Lycaon

[sookster]

LYCAON

Lycaon was the first king of Arcadia, and though his country prospered under his rule, he possessed a streak of viciousness that earned him the great god Zeus' ire. Zeus had heard tales of Lycaon's impiety and cruelty, and in order to find out the truth about the King of Arcadia, he disguised himself as a beggar and sought hospitality in the king's court. Lycaon and his fifty equally sadistic sons discovered the identity of their guest, and foolishly served Zeus a meal of soup that contained sheep and goat entrails, and the flesh of Lycaon's fifty-first son, Nictimos. Zeus, consumed with rage and disgust, struck the king's home with a lightning bolt, and transformed Lycaon and his sons into creatures more suited to their savage natures: werewolves.

 

A monstrous, brutal, and bloodthirsty blend: blackened myrrh, crushed olive leaf, black musk, spikenard, frankincense, cypress wood, opoponax, white ginger, and patchouli.

 

straight sniff from bottle this is quite like schwarzer mond but less resinous...

the myrrh and black musk are wonderful...patchouli adds a perfect touch...

once applied it swirls and warms with my chemistry and creates the most

glorious and heavenly waft of fragrance...very sweet to my schnoz the woodsy

notes kick in after some time after...this has a lovely and long lasting aroma...

 

mme. moriarty outdid herself with this gorgeous blend!!

 

i am thrilled i scored a bottle this

[slave1]

LYCAON

 

In Bottle: Resin and musk

 

On Skin: A beautiful dark scent, feral and spicy. This reminds me of Scwarzer Mond, but a little darker and not as sweet. The dark myrrh, musk and resins really give a delicious depth. The olive leaf offers a very nice green slice through the scent. The patchouli in this scent is like the patchouli in Schwarzer Mond, dark but not overwhelming, which is very good for me because patchouli is usually evil on me. Here is works perfectly fine! The ginger offers a gorgeous spice and the incense gives even more depth with a nice sweet smoke. Very animalistic and fits it’s description perfectly!! If you like Scwarzer Mond I have a feeling you’ll love Lycaon. It has an average to strong throw but it does fade quite quickly on me so I’d say shortt to average wearlength.

[tamburlaine]

Mm, this smells like a classic. In the bottle I immediately detect the musk, which reminds me of Haunted. The oil on my skin smells tangy and spicy, like a blend of frankincense and lemon peel and eerie spikenard. As the blend dries down, the woodsy notes show up and round out the scent with a sweetness, which I attribute to the opoponax. Finally, it becomes a little powdery, but that was to be expected, since that's what happens to me with anything patchouli, BPAL or not.

 

Lycaon is a very masculine scent, and indeed "brutal." I can smell the feral quality in the woodsy/resinous mix. I'm a little disappointed that the spikenard didn't come out to play with me for longer, since that's the note I was looking forward to the most, but the oil does fulfill its promise nevertheless.

Edited January 8, 2007 by tamburlaine

[shelldoo]

in the bottle:musk and olive leaves

 

wet: musky, sexy, patchouli, frankinsence, hint of olive leaf

 

as it dries it a soft, resinous, musky blend. w/ a kick. i always think frankinsense feels spicey to me and i definitely get that feel from this blend. the olive leaf is alot less evident as it dries. but i do occassionally get glimpses of it. this is definitely a keeper.patchouli keeps this grounded and deep.this is a sexy as hell, dark night out on the town. very awesome.

[valentina]

When I first sniffed Lycaon, I got a lot of green smells -- the olive leaf and cypress, no doubt. And when I first applied it, the olive and cypress went into full bloom, but after 5 minutes or so, things settled down and started smelling green and powdery -- the powder was the myrrh kicking in, no doubt. This is such a complex blend that after a complete drydown it became difficult to articulate just what I was smelling -- there's certainly the frankincense and myrrh combo in the forefront, but the peppery black musk and hints of the green elements of the scent lurk in the background. It's a scent that's rather masculine, but certainly very nice as a dark and brooding scent for a woman. And I just can't stop smelling it!! It's so complex as to truly defy description, but I do have a rather overwhelming urge to pull out my Warren Zevon CD and sing along with "Werewolves of London..."

[sarada]

Lycaon is likely to take its place as one of the great gods in my personal pantheon of BPAL that seems custom made just for my tastes. At the moment, a cold is preventing me from fully experiencing its many layers and transformations, but if these are meant to be transformative blends, it certainly lives up to its promise, shifting through every stage into new and fantastic forms.

 

When I first tried it, a dusty incense emerged among the sultry, musky oils that reminded me of Schwarzer Mond -- glistening resins playing against fragrant greenery. The ginger moves out into the foreground quickly -- the hot, sharp ginger that recalls biting into a crystallized ginger candy, where it shoots right up the back of your nose. I thought for a moment that I smelled Shub, but it was that warm ginger playing tricks on me.

 

It dries back down into a more dusty, earthy incense scent and I do pick out the olive leaf, though at first I couldn't detect it. Frankincense, patchouli and myrrh -- what could be better? Ahh, a touch of cypress and spikenard, that's what. This is an ageless and ancient blend and despite its lycanthropic inspiration it makes me think of the Bible. So many ancient, mystical, sacred oils -- oils to be applied in the dead of night beneath a full moon, in a landscape at the beginning of human history.

 

When I'm back to normal I will get a better idea of the many faces of Lycaon...I think we're going to have a fabulous, torrid relationship.

[forspecial_plate]

Lycaon is definitely dark and herbal...nothing powdery whatsoever, which was my big fear. I think what I smell mostly is patchouli, wood, and olive leaf. I really don't know how to describe olive leaf but I recognize it from Haloa. I agree that this is a lot like Schwarzer Mond, except without the bay that turned on me in that blend. This isn't nearly as sweet as I was imagining it would be. I was expecting at least a little powder from the black musk, myrrh, and/or opoponax. I can smell these things but they seem to be extremely well balanced with the herbal notes. I'm not sure I can smell any ginger at all, but it's one of those notes that is touch and go with me. Sometimes it works for me, sometimes not.

 

I'm on the fence. I wouldn't say I love it, but I definitely can wear it. I'm going to hold onto it and let it age for a few weeks, and try again. Could be this will grow on me in a big way. If nothing else, this would fill the void left when Schwarzer Mond ended up not working for me.

[maijasu]

It's funny how we all have such different experiences with the same scent. Others are smelling all sorts of wonderful notes, but I'm getting mostly powder. It's a warm, sweet, pleasant powderiness, but it's still powder. No ginger for me, alas. I will have to put it away and try again in a few weeks, but so far, it's not measuring up to Schwarzer Mond or Shub.

[flyingpizza]

Oh man!

 

When I first put this on, it was all resins and musk, very nice and dark.

 

Now it's just baby powder and it's giving me a headache. No beloved ginger. sadness.

[ceej]

Mmmmmm. This is wonderful. Do I like it better than Schwarzer Mond? I'm not sure. I need to compare them more directly. They are similar to each other, with that slightly sweet incense-y thing, all dark and mysterious and soft. This is a little sharper, maybe, and less resinous overall. An instant favorite, that's for sure.

[Jettcat]

If you loved Schwanzer Mond, you will LOVE Lycaon. It's every bit as masculine and powerful. The myrrh stands up and gets your attention, probably by grabbing you by the throat. It's practically wearing leather pants. It softens after it's brutal entrance and the word brutal does apply. There is a boi or two who I can't wait to slather this on. Hell with it! They're both getting slathered and I keep whoever survives the evening.

 

Thank you Beth! This is another winner!

[cuervosueno]

I tried this without being able to recall the notes, so I'll give you my first impressions, odd as they are.

 

In bottle: beautiful green--slightly piney, slightly sweety, with just a bit of an aquatic note Lovely!

 

Wet: those things continue. There is an underlying sweet greenness that is almost but not quite minty. Very lovely!

 

Dry: hmmm....suddenly I'm hit with soapiness. Will this fade? I hope so!

 

At this point I decided to check the notes. What a surprise! Where is the frankincense and opopponax (I thought these were the same thing--maybe different varieties?). I'm not sure I get the myhrr either. After the soap fades it is green and herbal and slightly peppery. The herbal note is something I'm not crazy about--almost like hyssop.

 

this is one of the oddest blends I've tried, because its one of the few in which I'm not able to pick out any of the notes. I just don't smell the ingredients listed, though my overall impression is not much different than other reviewers. This is a dark herbal with resin on me, but not one I like.

 

too bad it didn't smell on me like it does in the bottle!

Edited January 5, 2007 by cuervosueno

[wolfie13]

This one is very interesting - and it IS quite changeable, perfect for a shapeshifter scent.

 

In the bottle: It smells dark green - herbal and woody combined, with a touch of ginger. I like!

 

Wearing: Smells like the bottle smell for a bit. Then the black musk starts coming through. This goes through a long-ish phase where it smells quite a bit like Count Dracula without the cloves.

(The notes they share: Patchouli, ginger, wood, black musk, must be ones that my skin prefers.)

However, the cloves (and leather) are what make Count Dracula for me so I'm feeling pretty meh at this point. CD without the pizazz.

 

Then it gets a bit greener again - and yes, a bit powdery, - but in an interesting way- it's starting to smell very occult shop/magickal to me now.

 

The final phase is lightest and mostly incense - getting a lot of the opoponax and frankincense at this point.

 

This is not really reminscent of Schwarzer Mond on me at all - that one was much deeper and heavier and unchanging (and on me, at least, had a very "off" note)

 

I'd be very curious to see what this would age like - I may end up keeping it to find out.

 

ETA: Eh - I wore it again a couple more times, and it just always ended up a musky green-herbal. Not dark or resinous at all. And certainly not monstrous or bloodthirsty.

Sigh. It went off to the swaps.

Edited February 14, 2007 by wolfie13

[filigree_shadow]

Argh! Spikenard, my archenemy.

 

I had my fingers crossed that maybe, maybe I could wear this even with spikenard in it because I thought the other notes sounded good. Nope. Spikenard is still a jerk and refuses to play nicely with me. Its making the whole scent smell bitter and kind of sour. It's developing a funky licorice-like weirdness after about 20 minutes, too.

 

I asked my husband to put some on, and of course it smells nice and resiny-sweet on him. Just what I would have liked it to smell like on me. Grrrr.

Edited January 6, 2007 by filigree_shadow

[UploadedLobster]

Lycaon is resinous, herbal, very woodsy and dark. I smell like some kind of badass Ent.

 

In the bottle: myrrh-y and faintly sweet, that's probably the ginger.

 

On skin: The ginger is GONE. Just plain gone. All the sweetness burns away and what's left is mainly that sharp, dark myrrh and something piney which might be the cypress, and I think there's a sneaky little patchouli note in there somewhere--overall it's a lot like Nyarlathotep without the lemon.

 

This scent makes me feel ruthlessly competent, like I could kick down a door or negotiate the price of a used car without batting an eye. Damn fine, I say.

 

 

Lobster Rating

Better than: pitcher plants

[Heavenlyrabbit]

My supposition on first reading the notes was this might be a 'sexy' version of Tzadikim Nistarim and that is what is turns out being.

 

A fortuitous cross between Tzadikim Nistarim and Schwarzer Mond.

[Athenae]

At first it smelt strangely of lemon, and I was afraid the lemon would amp up and overwhelm everything, but now it's dried down to a lovely olive/woodsy scent, not as resinous as Schwarzer Mond nor as sweet. I don't know if I'll keep it yet or not. It'll take a couple of more tests to tell.

 

A.

[AliBabble]

well, from the bottle i can't tell what i'm smelling...i know i like it - it is very smooth, but mysterious. on my skin, the different notes unfurl...for a split second, i get the schwarzer mond comparison, because it is at this moment that i get the classic schwarzer mond "cola syrup" scent - is this the opponax, maybe? it's softer, sweeter, and lighter than schwarzer mond. this is so interesting and really pleasant...i think i can detect the olive leaf (warm), ginger (spicy warm), and the cypress - evergreen-y. it's slightly herby/medicinal, yet sweet and soft. it goes a bit powdery, but still has a resiny richness -- i'm just guessing it's the opponax doin it's thing here...the cola-ness is still there, almost chocolate-y, somehow. well, yes - i like it.

[shadesong]

I was so looking forward to this, after reading all the Schwarzer Mond comparisons. I eagerly opened the bottle, sniffed, and -

 

Nothing.

 

Sniffed again.

 

Absolutely nothing.

 

Smeared it on my skin, and smelled.

 

Nothing.

 

*blink* *blink*

 

I had my husband and a few friends smell it to see if I was on crack or had been sent a bottle of water. The unanimous response was that it smelled like mentholated shaving cream.

 

*blink*

 

So apparently something in this cancells out the scent receptors in my nose. Spikenard? I'm pretty sure I've smelled fragrances with all of the other notes before. Weird.

[supremegoddessofall]

In bottle: Very herbal and green.

 

On me: I'll be a monkey's uncle if this won't smell fantastic on my girlfriend. It's very masculine. Very spicy and herbal - I'm getting lots of ginger and myrrh. Fairly musky. I don't think it's something I would wear, but I bet it would smell fantastic on someone else.

[bombus]

When I put this on my first thought was this is way too much patchouli for this girl. But I have come to realize that one must be patient with bpal, and within a few minutes the patchouli had calmed down and I could smell the rest of the notes. For me the strongest notes are the musk, ginger and of course the patchouli, it is a warm yet dark smell that I am liking more and more as the day goes on. It also must have good throw because I have received two compliments on it so far today.

[impadua@aol.com]

This has everything I Like in it. Dark, warm, full-bodied, rich, deeply animalistic? sexual? powerful? predatory?..I don't know, call it what you may, It has incredible stamina on my flesh, and I want to submerge myself in a vat of it. Then grab a suitable male and pour it all over him. Then, well, ....Yep, gonna wish I had lots more of this.

[jade_starlight]

At first Lycaon is very like Wolf Moon with the scent of evergreen trees. But the evergreen quickly faded out, leaving a somewhat sweet, warm, almost furry scent that makes me feel like I've been wrapped up in a warm blanket on a cold winter night and I'm sitting in front of the fire. It's not too strong, but it's a very comforting scent. I love it.

[savage_rose]

Will this one be as right on for me as my other birth moon scent?

 

In the bottle: Okay, my first reaction was a double take, and a very unhelpful "This is weird!". It might be in the same family as Schwarzer Mond, but it's not the same scent at all. Trying again. 2nd sniff: it smells old...like an old presence of something that was once great. Forgotten, but not gone. It smells like a museum, or ruins...something old and not benevolent or hostile, but watchful. Waiting. Maybe a bit of "old temple" smell...and something brooding. There's something very nostalgic about this.

 

On my skin: I have the weirdest feeling from this. It smells like...it smells like a lover. As far as I know I've never smelled anything or anyone like this, but it just smells romantic and familiar and it gives my stomach flipflops. It makes me want to hug myself tightly and rub my wrist and get all dreamy. And as right-brained as I am, that's so not me. Okay, helpful review, helpful review.

 

Something is turning to powder, but it mixes with the musk and smells sweet but earthy. Just a little spicy, but in a dried, subtle way...I think I smell a hint of anise. I thought it was going to be a stronger, more aggressive blend from my initial bottle sniffs, but it's just not. It's throw is moderate, and it's just so lovely and earthy and strange. Mmmm.

[QueenFae]

Dark, foreboding, and mysterious. The myrrh is the strongest note, with the deepness of the black musk close behind. It is sort of a dry, musty, evil smelling scent, but lovely in its own sense. The frankincense and woodsy notes make up the undertones, and create a nice complexity which makes Lycaon an unusal blend. It conjours images of cloaked figures and sinister castles. I would classify this as a resinous/earthy blend with medium throw. It's more on the masculine side but would be nice on either.