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Showing results for tags 'Motherhood 2016'.
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Rolling with her homies, profoundly jetlagged at the British Museum. Golden honey and cassia. My Lilith order is still processing, but as my friend's arrived days ago, we did a little testing with her bottles tonight. Four Sons of Horus was perhaps, of the lot, the most similar on our two skin chemistries. Cassia was dominant on a backdrop of sweet honey with support, maybe, from an unlisted myrrh. The myrrh note gave the cassia some darkness and depth; the honey seemed to provide most of the sweetness. Horus was a solid if uncomplicated fragrance that changed little in a couple hours, just becoming more blended on my skin.
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Lilith was incredibly disappointed that she wasnt allowed to touch the Egyptian funerary texts at the British Museum. Myrrh and papyrus reed with a smear of vanilla cream frosting. Myrrh, Egyptian stuff AND vanilla?!? Yes. Please. What an evocative blend! I've never been to Egypt but this conjures an image of strolling the banks of the Nile, lined by papyrus reeds blowing in the gentle wind, while myrrh incense wafts in swirls around you. The papyrus reed is green and watery. It's fresh and a little bit sharp (which I love!). It juxtaposes beautifully with the softness of the myrrh. As it dries down, the watery aspect seems to fade but everything else remains consistent. It's quite atmospheric and I'm delighted with it. ETA: A few hours into the drydown and I definitely pick up on the vanilla cream frosting. It's sweet and yummy! I'm interested to read how other people interpret it!
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I was supposed to be representing Death for our June Gloom Victorian Mourning event, but the Little Grim Reaper kept stealing my scythe. Lilith says this perfume should smell like pretty meat bones, and her translation of that is a musky vanilla sandalwood. In the bottle: MUSK. Sandalwood, maybe. Warm on skin: There's the vanilla! It's still white, musky sandalwood, but the vanilla is stronger. After a while: Cool, dry sandalwood with light musk and white, not-sweet, not-warm vanilla. This is probably the least sweet vanilla I've ever smelled from the lab.
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Achievement Unlocked: Babys First Time Sleeping at an Airport Lil is a born traveler. She has been easy to travel with and eager to go new places! ever since she hopped on her first plane at a little over a year old. While shes not too fond of long car rides, she loves trains and /LOVES/ flying and she really, really loves airports. She loves what it symbolizes to her, and she simply loves being there. She loves watching people go to and fro, wondering where theyre going and where theyre coming from. She loves stale airport croissants, overpriced souvenir stands, and questionable day-old airport bagels. She loves buying chewing gum and city-branded trinkets, and she loves riding her suitcase like a go-kart. An ill-timed overnight stopover in Mexico City marked Liliths first time sleeping in an airport. Suffice to say, she takes to it better than either of her parents. She slept through sirens and loudspeakers, through beeping trams and rattling carts all while Teddy and I sat bolt upright, zombified and staring. I hope her love of travel never, ever wanes. The distant scent of black coffee spiked with coffee liqueur and dusted with cinnamon. It's hump day, and decided to try Connecting Flight this afternoon for a little pick me up. Wet, the coffee liqueur is pretty strong. Dry down, it doesn't smell like coffee, but reminds me more of coffee cake; vanilla cake and just a hint of cinnamon, paired with a steaming cup of coffee. I wasn't sure about it wet, but as it settled more, it smells quite lovely. I love the label for it.
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Last year, we spent a little time running around ghost towns in California. There was one that wasnt quite a ghost town, but was it was an Old West movie set that was abandoned. A ghost town of a ghost town? It was so peculiar, and so very California. The three of us made mini movies together in that odd ghost town until it got too cold to hold a camera. This photo isnt from that trip, but it reminds me so strongly of our silly little films. This one is for my little bandit: sarsaparilla, leather, and vanilla cream. Outlaw is made of some of my very favorite notes and lives up to all my expectations of it. In the bottle I get a strong burst of mouth watering sarsaparilla/root beer. The leather note is secondary. Wet on skin: Blast of sarsaparilla with smooth leather underneath it. Vanilla cream in the background keeping it sweet. Drydown: Leather comes forward more. It's a pretty leather note, not overpowering. The sarsaparilla fizzles in the background now, the vanilla cream starts to peak out more. The sarsaparilla and vanilla cream seem to be merging into one. Ultimate drydown: Vanilla cream with leather. I'm actually getting a Love's Philosophy vibe with leather and it's BEAUTIFUL. Definite winner for me and worthy of back ups.
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I believe that its important to commemorate important, pivotal moments in a childs life, and 17 October 2015 marks the first time Lilith really experienced Doctor Who. The episode was the Girl Who Died, and we watched it in a hotel room in Seattle. Lilith has given many other Doctors a spin since that day, but by far her favorite is the Twelfth. This is the scent of room service vanilla ice cream and leftover cake with a little bit of banana. When you sniff the bottle it's delicious sweet banana. On the skin I get banana pudding with vanilla ice cream! It's sooooo good! In the throw there's definitely cake too! I love this! It's so yummy!!
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Lilith is already better at knitting than I am. A few weeks ago, we went to a knitting clinic together just to brush up a bit on our skills. Everything the instructor showed her she took to immediately. I, on the other hand, had a bit more trouble. Actually, a lot more trouble. Arachne, I am not. Going to that class with her was amazingly fun, and watching her create brings me unbelievable amounts of delight. This scent is inspired by the colors of the yarns she chose that day: raspberry pink, cherry red, sky blue, and lime green, all swirled with frankincense, black oudh, mallow root, and sweet wooly vanilla husk. In the bottle: This is incredibly fruity in the bottle, sweet and sugary, almost like Skittles (not unlike Bitches Love Unicorns in that way). The mallow root gives a bit of creaminess while the frankincense and oudh. On the skin: The frankincense, oudh and vanilla husk are at the forefront here. It gives the fruit a sharpness, but not an overwhelming one. That original candy sweetness disappears pretty much right away and becomes a spicy, vaguely warmer blend, in a way. However, it does reappear shortly after. It really does make me think of wet yarn and wooden spinning wheels. Very peaceful scent.
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Lilith at the window, waiting for her father. Raindrops and asphalt, lavender, pale musk, and white oudh. In the bottle: Lavender-touched rain. This is VERY subtle and you have to get close and take a big old sniff to really get a sense of the fragrance. On the skin: This turns exquisite pretty quickly. Lavender-touched rain is still accurate, but you can almost feel the rain on the asphalt on a warm day. The lavender extends a sort of wistfulness to the blend, while the musk softens the rain out so gently that it sort of breaks your heart. Imagine rain falling on hot pavement scattered with lavender petals. That's kind of it, but better.
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In June, Lilith was cast as the Mad Hatter in her theater school’s production of Alice in Wonderland. Typecast much? Lilith says that the Mad Hatter should smell like tea (“EARL GREY!”) with honey and cream and lots and lots of cookies. In The Bottle: Cream and cookies! Very light cream and cookies! Wet On Skin: The cookies are showing up a bit more now, they seem to be butter cookies, like the kinds that come in those big blue tins. Nomnomnom! Dry Down: Sadly, I get no tea from this, certainly not Earl Grey, which I'd been hoping for. On the other hand, having a light scent that makes me smell like butter cookies and also cream is NOT a problem in my universe. In All: very low throw- prepare to slather! A light, lovely scent good for blustery fall days and, yes, thinking ahead, I can see wearing this on Christmas morning as presents are being opened. Just a sweet, joyous scent. Love!
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My little witch, my little lilt of laughter: this scent is for the sorceress you are and the sorceress you will grow to be. 7-year aged patchouli, red musk, and bourbon vanilla with sweet oudh, hazelnut, amber chypre, leather. In The Bottle: Leather, oudh and a touch of the hazelnut. This is heady, rich. Wet On Skin: The patchouli comes into the room, but not in the dominant way one might expect. In fact, so far, NONE of the powerful notes are dominating. It's really unusual! Dry Down: I cannot believe how well-blended this is already, without needing to sit and age. Normally leather can be a deal-breaker, but the other notes were all so compelling, I decided to take a chance. And I'm glad I did, because this is really quite beautiful. There's an ease between the heavier notes, like the patch and the leather, and they are balanced by the hazelnut and the musk and the vanilla. I can catch glimmers of all those elements, but they blend so seamlessly, that this is really it's own little dream. Beautiful, haunting, and perfect as we go into Autumn.
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Mod Note: This topic name will remain 'San Cristóbal de la Habana', despite the post-release provisional name change on BPAL.com to 'A Perfume That Tells a Story About My Daughter But Had a Name That Made Our Payment Processors All Feisty and Stuff So Now We Have To Change It and This is the New Name Yay'. Cubas white ginger blossoms, guava pulp, and mango with a touch of white tobacco and sea salt. Wet, this is warm, white, sweet ginger lilies. I have some 10% diluted white ginger lily essential oil, and that is a glorious top note. I have come to realize that the current sea salt version that is being used in some of the more recent aquatic/oceanic scents, reads to me as 'warm tortilla chips and salt,' which may just be the unfortunate behavior of my skin. After the oil is on my skin the ginger lily note recedes and gives way to the more interesting warm saltiness. This is significantly less fruity than I expected it to be, as I'm looking for the mango and the guava, and mostly getting a gentle, spicy tropical 'pulpy' note, without the abject ferociousness of artificial mango/guava 'fragrance,' This is good, but I'm surprised that what I thought would be a fruit-heavy scent is more a close to the skin, spicy, warm tropical 'haze' or 'aura.' The white tobacco is not terribly potent but I've only had experience with the darker tobaccos, I'm terrible at identifying the white version (was it in... some Moth?). All in all, definitely not fruity. A warm scent, close to the skin. Somewhat salty, tropical, with the sea salt note that sometimes does a little tortilla moment, but in the end lends a salt-kissed skin type of scent. Fruits in the background, present to give a bit more tropical feel. This is walking down a boulevard with all the commingled scents of a city, the ocean, the markets, all around.
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Last March, we took Lilith to the John Dee exhibit at the Royal College of Physicians in London. She loved it, especially the bits about his cryptography and the video presentation of his life and works. I loved her loving it. Truly, there's little that warms an old occultist's heart quite like holding her daughter's hand while gazing at books salvaged from John Dee's own library, or looking at our reflections together in Dee's scrying mirror. Worn leather bindings, the dry crackle of ancient paper, styrax and onycha, frankincense, a drop of candle wax, and the barest fleck of dried Tudor roses. I just got this bottle in from the lab, so I'm sure the bottle needs to rest a bit. Here are my first impressions: Cold sniff: This is a very pretty perfume. Very feminine. I smell some of the candle wax, It has a 1950's powder room vibe to it. Not to say that it is powdery though. But rather the smell of a vintage perfume. The rose note isn't predominant, but there is a floral tone to it. On wrist: I am getting a bit of the leather and rose scent that would be in Whip, but not in a strong, hit you in the face way. It's mellow, and soft. It is reminiscent of Bear Prince, but much more mellow on the rose note. But it does have a similar background. After 30 minutes: The Rose and leather are a bit more to the forefront, and the frankincense keeps the rose in check. I smell floral, without it verging into full bright rose territory. The notes have morphed into a bit of a powdery scent. All in all: This scent has good throw! My husband could smell it across the room, and I had just dabbed some on my wrist. It is a very feminine scent, and very pretty. It's not my typical scent to wear as it is a bit powdery. So I'll wear this only occasionally. This would be a great scent for someone who loves vintage perfumes! Hope this review is helpful!
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A scent for my bed-headed September 2nd Virgos: lavender for Lilith and amber for Brian. Wet: The lavender that Lilith Loves so much is prominent and I love it too. Dry: Lavender and commercial amber. I don't know if I like this one as much as I like the serpentine. Still on the fence about selling it. *sigh*
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Lilith wants to keep her fathers brain in a jar after he dies so she can implant it into a robot body. This should smell like electricity and potions. I did my best, kid. In the bottle: Electricity. Ozone. On the skin: This has almost a citrus quality to it without ever being overt about it. The "electricity" feeling is definitely there - this is a lightning-filled slate grey sky, that hum of leftover energy in the air when it passes. It's post-storm magic and almost cold anticipation. Beth did a beautiful interpretation of this one.
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Lilith expressing herself at the V&A: cardamom-dusted cupcakes. In the bottle: It's the lab's yellow cake note. That's aaaaaaaaaaaalllllllll I can smell. Warm on skin: Yellow cake and the tiniest bit of cardamom. After a while: Foody, buttery yellow cake and dry, sweet-ish cardamom.
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Let’s be real: I just wanted an excuse to make a scent inspired by this photo. Lilith and I have incredibly similar senses of humor, full of fart jokes and gross outs and vulgarity. I love her belly laugh, I love how weird and surreal she is. I love that her jokes fall in a strange void somewhere between Harpo Marx, Deadpool, and Andy Kaufman with a huge helping of knock knock jokes that make no sense at all. I love that she and I laugh at so many of the same things, and I love that she and I sometimes laugh together until we’re crying and cramping. This scent is a ridiculous mélange of blue cotton candy, strawberry marshmallows, and whipped cream with sprinkles. This scent was mostly a sweet strawberry candy scent on me. In the dry down a little of the marshmallow came out and I definitely get whiffs of cotton candy too. No sprinkles really. It had light throw and not much staying power.
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In life, she was Amelia Goyri de Adot. She was promised into a loveless betrothal, but through patience, guile, and the strength of her devotion, she was able to repeatedly postpone the marriage until the death of her father, upon which she was free to marry the man she truly loved. Tragically, her joy was short-lived: on May 3rd, 1903, both Amelia and her son died during childbirth, and she was laid to rest in the Havanas sprawling necropolis with her son resting at her feet. Day after day, year after year, Amelias heartbroken husband visited their grave. He would knock three times, screaming, Wake, Amelia! Wake! In his grief, he could not bear to turn away from her, so when he was forced to leave by exhaustion or circumstance, he would walk backwards until he left the cemetery, always keeping his eyes on the grave of his wife and son. For seventeen years, he came to the grave daily, his heart wracked with anguish. Many years later, Amelias remains were exhumed, and witnesses saw that not only were the bodies perfectly preserved, but the infant child now rested in his mothers arms: a miraculous symbol of eternal love. To this day, pilgrims visit La Milagrosa to pray for her intercession, asking that she watch over, bless, and protect children and loving couples. Lilith paying her respects at the tomb of La Milagrosa, Cementerio de Cristóbal Colón: clusters of mariposa and mahoe, sprays of black orchid, loves red roses, and a thin drift of cigar smoke. bold bright syrupy floral. LM conveys both a sense of fun but also something elegant and regal. Big throw. The cigar smoke is light, delicate. the flowers remind me a little of heirophant and empress--rose + POW-- without the herbs and resins. the smoke is similar to that in dia de los meurtos: ethereal, wispy, a part of the offering, adding grace and depth (this ain't the big tobacco of In Time of Plague). as someone who doesn't like breathing real tobacco smoke, while this evokes said smoke, it isn't unpleasant at all. this feels like a monumental floral ofrenda. Intriguing. I like it, but don't know if it's really my style.
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Damn everything but the circus! A scent for Tom and for Lilith, the Empress and the Hierophant at the carnival: rose, gardenia, styrax, and frankincense splattered with cotton candy and the white glop in the middle of Oreos. In the bottle: Roses and cocoa and Oreo creme. Seriously. On the skin: This shouldn't work, but it really, really does. For ease, I should say that the Oreo creme here really serves to give a vanilla creaminess to the florals. The cotton candy never really comes out to play. The rose takes the lead with the gardenia coming out to play in the drydown. The frankincense gives a very very vaguely incense-y blur (almost not enough to make it worth mentioning) and the Oreo creme sugars out the flowers perfectly. The chocolate is there, but not like Oreo cookie chocolate, more like cocoa powder chocolate. Again, usually not my thing, but this is so interesting and unique that I can't help but like it.
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This spirit shall return to Him Who gave its heavenly spark; Yet think not, Sun, it shall be dim When thou thyself art dark! No! it shall live again, and shine In bliss unknown to beams of thine, By Him recall’d to breath, Who captive led Captivity, Who robb’d the grave of Victory,— And took the sting from Death! Lilith at Poet’s Corner, Westminster Abbey – one of my favorite places in the entirety of this earth. Piety and intrigue, succor and terror… stone walls and painted glass panels bearing witness to generations of poetry, pride, conquest, and despair: the echoes of the incense smoke of hundreds upon hundreds of years curling around roses and oak branches. In The Bottle: This is...wow. It's got a rose in there, but it's honestly not like any I think I've smelled before. It's dark and dusky and the oak is certainly grounding it, even in the bottle. It's beautiful and somber and makes me want to walk in cemeteries on cloudy days- AND THIS IS ALL IN THE BOTTLE. Wet On Skin: The oak makes its presence more known and the rose takes a little more of a back seat. I'm less familiar with oak notes in the Lab's cannon, but this one reminds me of autumnal days and, yes, crunching through leaves. Unusual for me, but no complaints Dry Down: The rose is in the distant background, and this has become an oak incense - it's crunchy leaves mixed with an incense base. It waxes and wanes, strangely- one moment it's quite strong and the next it fades back. And it's got something I can't quite place...something that reminds me of childhood, though the scent isn't 'childish' in the least. It's dusty and powdery and incense-y and fallen-leafy and slightly musty. I honestly can't decide how I feel about it just now, but it's intriguing enough that I'm going to let it age and check back in later to see what's happening.
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O to make the most jubilant poem! Even to set off these, and merge with these, the carols of Death. O full of music! full of manhood, womanhood, infancy! Full of common employments! full of grain and trees. O for the voices of animals! O for the swiftness and balance of fishes! O for the dropping of rain-drops in a poem! O for the sunshine, and motion of waves in a poem. O the joy of my spirit! it is uncaged! it darts like lightning! It is not enough to have this globe, or a certain time—I will have thousands of globes, and all time. Do I take this exact photo of you every year, Lilith? Always on a see-saw, always laughing with all your heart. You are the joy of my spirit, you are my most jubilant poem. Crooked hazelnut and tonka with a touch of cacao and black pine. Wet, this smells almost a little marzipan-y, but definitely nutty. Hazelnut, yes. Like when you're biting into a toasted one and that top crusty toasty aroma. On the skin, whoa, whoa, egads, that nuttiness gets a little cloying, but then it burns off that first topnote and settles towards a more gentle, warm hazelnut aroma. The tonka lends this a sweetness or sugariness which is excellent. Oh. Now the pine comes back a little bit... kind of like the sort in Golden Priapus, so this is not completely and utterly foody. Ah, there's the cocoa, thrumming in the background. This is pretty gourmand, except for the pine, which steers it away from being BPAL Nutella SN. (... yes please). I like this, it's primarily forward as a chocolate hazelnut, sparkling with sugar but a little botanically unique with the pine. Like, chocolate dipped hazelnut crusted pine trees. Over time, the pine fades, and you're left with a pretty tasty desserty fragrance. Mmm. Nutella.
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Lilith introduced her plush Egyptian kitty, Goldenshine, to the goddess Sekhmet. She figured they’d get along great, both being cats n’all. Blood wine and amber. In The Bottle: HAI, Wine!!! Wet On Skin: Thi is certainly the same wine note that was in Gluwhein and also Ruby Fluid. I am a tremendous fan of both those scents, and so far, this does NOT disappoint! Dry Down: This is very nearly a Wine Single Note. Which I personally have *no* objections to. The Lab's amber note doesn't always stick on my skin- my chemistry somehow gobbles it up, so that might be what's happening. However, I didn't get a strong wifi of amber in the bottle or while it was wet on my skin, either, so this might just be wine-heady with the amber simply acting as a supporting member. In any event, if you love the Lab's wine scents, this is a treasure, to be sure!
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This winter, Lilith tried her hand at embalming, thanks to the British Museum. Lilith says this should smell like blood and guts, but also strawberries. We came to a compromise through a combination of Dragon’s blood resin, myrrh, and smushed strawberries with a little bit of lavender. She sprays lavender essential oil on her plushies every night before bed, so she thinks plush innards should get the same treatment. My first review! In the bottle- Lavender and Strawberry Wet on skin- Lavender! Strawberry, and a hint of dragon's blood peeking out. It's very sweet and a little perfumey. Dry- The resins come out to play, and the perfumey-ness is toned down a little. It's still sweet, tempered by the resins, and it's beautiful! I don't think my half bottle will be enough. A suprise hit for me. Love it!
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This year, we brought a new baby to the house: Lilith’s little buddy, Pickle. In order for mom and dad to okay Lilith getting “her own” dog, she had to agree to train her, help bathe her, and care for her. Loving her was a given, and somehow Lilith foisted the dooky-removal duties back onto her father. The scent of our backyard in summertime, the scent of Lilith trying to explain to Pickle how to heel correctly: honeysuckle, late summer jasmine, and mowed grass. In the bottle: Jasmine! Ripe, almost rotting jasmine (not in that it smells rotten, but it smells... potent in the best possible way). On the skin: The jasmine is still front and center and will not be moved. However, the honeysuckle and grass add a bit of green to what is still a very heady floral. This is strong, beautiful, and very perfume-y, like walking through a garden full of jasmine vines, tall grass, and honeysuckle blossoms very faintly in the distance. Seriously, if you don't like jasmine, stay far, far away (it's one of my favorite floral elements, so I love it). I can see this being headache-inducing on some as it nearly was on me this morning after slathering, but I love jasmine blends too much to care. At times I almost feel like I'm getting a whiff of tuberose in there, but that's probably just my mind playing tricks on me.
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When Lilith started becoming scared of monsters under the bed and shadows in the closet, wed talk. Id tell her that yes, there are monsters in the closet, but theyre there to watch over you. And yes, there are monsters under the bed, but theyre there to make sure youre safe while you sleep. The stories grew and expanded, and at night, wed say goodnight to the ghosts in the attic, the werewolves in the backyard, and the vampires in the basement. Sometimes, Id forget our zombie friends, and Lilith would take offense on their behalf. We say good night to the bats in the trees, and we say goodnight to the ghost rats in the walls, and we tell stories about what they do during the day when shes at school and Im at work. So, at night, shes snug in her bed, safe with all her monster friends. But then shed have nightmares about rattlesnakes or volcanoes, and while I try to comfort her when she calls out, I know that there will always be something hiding for her, for all of us in darkened corners. All we can do sometimes is reach out to one another and hold hands in the dark. Lilith, theres so much in the world thats gloomy and thick with shadows. I cant protect you from all of it, but the gods know I will try. I will do whatever I can to help you navigate the darkness, and I will be there holding whatever torches I can muster. You are brave and you are strong: you are the wolf, my werewolf, and I know with all my heart that you will always conquer your rattlesnakes. this opens in a fun musky/furry jumble and when it dries down I get a hint of...fruity lollipops? what? yes I do smell of candy now, underneath the nice dark complexity of whatever else is happening.. this reminds me of a lighter cousin to the 2013 yule krampuslaufen.
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I love this kid. Oh lord, Lilith, you are my joy. You are silly and sagacious, loud and lovely, ridiculous, theatrical, and serene. You possess one of the kindest souls I have every known, and I am blessed by your compassion and your wisdom. Snake Oil, lavender, bubblegum, and gummi bears. I debated long and hard about this one. The notes called to me, strongly. But having struggled with infertility for many years, and eventually giving up, I worried it might make me sad. However, I realized how much joy and love children can bring parents. I see it in my brother, my sisters-in-law, my friends, my coworkers. In Beth!!! And I realized that motherhood, even if I can't experience it myself, is something I cherish and revere. So I ordered it!!! I'm a sucker for Snake Oil flankers. This one is very nice. It seems like a blend of SO with something like Hellion, or Hollywood Babylon, or Jailbait. It's actually more like those scents, with a dollop of SO and a very light dusting of lavender. I'm glad I got this!!!
