Love's Philosophy

[rachel2205]

Vanilla, saffron, and cream.

Very disappointed! This scent seems to be a love or hate one for reviewers, and I definitely don't love it. It's a cloying, weirdly chalky-cream scent. No good on me at all.

[Eleri]

Vanilla creamy scent, yummmm. Wafts of mint, it's kinda odd cause it's not a mint smell, almost a mint afterthought.

[alhbooks]

On me this was so thick as to be suffocating, and not a in a good way. For such an apparently simple combination, it's really an extreme, either loved or loathed.

[Blood onmy hands]

I'm really disappointed in this one. It was my only full bottle purchase of this year's Lupercalia blends, and it's nothing like what I was hoping for. I'm on a vanilla kick lately, and I love cream notes. I had hoped this would be cream with a lovely spice from the saffron.

 

If anything, this is like a softer, powdery version of Snowblind on me. I did not want another vanilla mint scent, and Love's Philosophy is like powdery/chalky wintergreen mint with vanilla.

 

I probably will be swapping away my bottle.

[Wildchild453]

Bottle: Is it bad that from botlle I don't think it smells as good as it should. Its plasticy vanilla and cream with a hint of ammonia

 

Wet: UGH, its sharp and just nasty smelling, like burning plastic

 

Dry: Yea, minty...I didn't sign up for mint. It kinda smells like a cleaner for wood my grandma used to use

 

Overall: My sense of disappointment is great. The blend seemed like it would be beautiful but just turned to a horror picture on me

[Loligo]

Bizarre -- I don't pick up any wintergreen/mint at ALL. I would never have expected to see that crop up in so many reviews! This is a very straightforward scent on me: vanilla, cream, and the ever-so-slightly sour and musky spiciness of saffron. If I pulled those ingredients out of my cupboard and fridge, I'd get exactly this.

[ChloeKEvil]

Mmm, pretty. This scent is almost totally vanilla on me, smooth and cool, but there's a slight deepness to it that confuses my nose. I waffled on liking it but I have come down firmly on the side of 'yes'. It's the purest vanilla from the Lab that I've tried and it's so smooth. I don't need a bottle right naaaaow but I would definitely like one.

[lanablade]

Soft sweet heavy vanilla with TONS of throw. Dab lightly, and you'll be surrounded by sweetness. If I sniff closer, there's an almost effervescent scent underneath that must be the saffron. I can see where people would say vanilla candle, but it's a really really expensive candle that has sweet frosting undertones to it.

 

ETA: I think that effervescent-ness must be where the wintergreen comes from, though it smells spicier than wintergreen on my skin.

Edited March 16, 2008 by Lana Blade

[SarahScent44]

In the imp, I get saffron & cream, followed by a hint of vanilla.

 

On my skin, it smells like a delicious dessert - it's not quite sweet, but there's the silkiness of the cream, and the warmth of the vanilla, with the earthiness and the spice of the saffron.

 

Once it dries, it's rich and silky, with the vanilla and cream out front - it's both sexy and sophisticated.

[heysunshine]

In the bottle and on application I smell cream soda. Sniffing around after drydown I get buttercream frosting as well as a vanilla and hay (that'd be the saffron) scent. It's not quite a resemblance but has the same character as Dragon's Milk -- the honeyed vanilla maybe -- I wear Milk to bed and I can see Love's Philosophy as being its daytime counterpart. Thankfully no mint/wintergreen is present in this. I've picked up a habit of slathering lately but this is a scent best suited for dainty dabbing.

[Dinerdulcinea]

 

WAAAAAAHH!

 

I wanted to like this one. I was hoping it would be like Underpants, only maybe work better on me.

 

No way.

 

imp: Some of the cheesecake from Beaver Moon?

 

Wet (hubby's evaluation): "YUCK! That smells like cheesecake and sunscreen mixed together. Blech."

 

Dry: Still getting no improvement on the rating scale from Hubby here...

 

My thoughts: It doesn't even make it to "meh" on me. It's not gross, IMO (though Hubby thinks it is)...it's just...naaaaah.

 

Oh well.

[yeahbutnobut]

Love’s Philosophy

 

In the imp: call me crazy, but this smells just like Snowblind! Vanilla and mint!

Wet on skin: ah, now I get the feared wintergreen that everyone talks about…to top it off, it smells a bit like plastic too.

Dry on skin: wintergreen and vanilla! Not mint any more, but a very medicinal wintergreen that reminds me of that awful medicated toothpaste my mum used to use! But with vanilla. I don’t get anything remotely Underpantastic in this scent, I don’t even smell the warm spicy saffron…I do get vanilla cream, but it’s laced with wintergreen, and I don’t like that. And the vanilla still smells plastic.

After a while: thankfully the wintergreen does disappear completely after 15 minutes. And I’m left with a warm gourmand vanilla. And it’s quite nice…but it’s not exciting me as much as I hoped. It’s got an annoying plastic undertone that I’m not too crazy about. It’s not as rich or refined as other BPAL vanillas tend to be, at least, it isn’t on my skin. I find it to be a bit flat? It is a comforting scent though, and I think it may be nicer when layered with another scent.

The scent is a soft milky vanilla at the end, not too different from before, but now it’s a bit too sickly sweet for me, and not as nuanced or complex as other BPAL vanillas like Snake Oil, Underpants, Antique Lace etc. It seems a little bit ‘plain vanilla’ to me, literally!

Verdict: this one was a disappointment for me as well. I got the wintergreen reaction, and I really didn’t like that. Thankfully it didn’t last but the vanilla I got at the end, whilst sweet and fluffy and foody and definitely agreeable, it didn’t excite me like other BPAL vanillas. The vanilla here is not the gorgeous vanilla I loved in Black Lace or Underpants, or the sexy Snake Oil vanilla, but a really ‘vanilla’ vanilla, plain and bland (and I must say, I really don’t using this word to describe BPAL because I love Beth’s art so much). It is one dimensional to me, and a bit cloying, with a plastic note that I rarely get in BPAL vanilla. This is the first vanilla from BPAL that I would describe as ‘meh’, and I feel bad doing it (even more so than reviewing a scent that my skin chem totally screws up). I suppose this would be a better scent for layering, maybe age will bring out some complexity. But as vanilla goes, this one is not my thing.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? I may just keep a little to see if it ages, but I’m not crazy about this.

If you like this, try: Tokyo Stomp, Golden Priapus, Lick It/Again/One More Time, Tombstone

[velvet]

This is a vanilla like scent that does well on me! i can list many bpal vanillas that smell terrible on me. this one is different! it doesn't turn plasticy on me for once like antique lace and snake oil for example.

the strange thing about this scent is the minty note. it reminds me of the mint in villainess' scintillating smooch! which i love... a lot!

 

okay... now to plot an order with money i dont have.........

 

 

update...

i can STILL smell it on my wrist and i put it on almost 12 hours ago. this stuff last forever on me.

Edited March 17, 2008 by velvet

[The_Merf]

In the imp and on me at first this is a dead ringer for Villainess's Scintillating smooch--creamy minty weirdness. I'm very lukewarm on that scent, and I'm not terribly excited about putting this on my skin, but if I tried Grog, I can try anything. I'll admit that this isn't half as bad on me as I thought it would be--it looks like I'm going to be one of the few people who is sort of ambivalent about this particular scent. I'm just not a fan of minty perfumes, and this does end up minty on me (even though the mint dies down as the scent dries), so I'm probably not going to go with a 5mL bottle. Still, this is a very interesting scent and the combination of vanilla and mint ends up being less unpleasant that I initially thought it would be.

[dirtytrip]

All right, it's over, I'm here now And here's the word. This is boring. Yeah, that's right. This is a boring vanilla with a slight spice tone, kind of like something I could pick up at Walgreen's. I got the infamous wintergreen impression right at first, but that died down quickly. Overall, it reminds me a bit of cream soda that's been sitting in the glass a bit too long - sweet, flat and generic. Got this as a sample from the generous Anna D. and I've very grateful to her for showing me that I was smart not to jump on this bandwagon!

[grashopper8]

Yeah, I have to chime in here, too. I was hoping for a lot more from Love's Philosophy, but I think the interesting edge that the saffron gives (and this is mostly in the wet stage) is overshadowed by the disapppointing cheap vanilla note. This vanilla is not the smooth, rich, foody vanilla that I've smelled in other scents. This is flat cream soda, dirtytrip!

It smells like a cheap vanilla candle to me. I agree that it's similar to the vanilla in Tokyo Stomp. Major bummer. At least it's saving me a smidgeon of money!

 

1 out of 5 (the 1 only being for the interesting back-note of saffron/wintergreen in the opening stage)

[Josh]

After reading all these reviews I figured I knew what to expect - wrong. This is really strange. It's more like a sweet milk than a vanilla.. and there is something that is slightly minty but not really, and it was also slightly lemon-ish at first for a moment, but not really. This is just very difficult to describe. I definitely get the buttercream frosting vibe that others picked up on -- but there is also a weird medicinal something there.. perhaps that is the saffron? I'll need to try this one out a little more to decide whether I like it or not, but this is definitely unique for a bpal oil.

 

In other news, I don't think I've ever seen a LE amass so many reviews in such a short amount of time. They must be selling a boatload of this stuff!

[Bagfish]

When applied on my wrist I get a lovely, slightly spicy vanilla. When sniffed up close, I get an almost marzipan sort of scent, not really too almondy but sort of heading that way. However, when I apply this to my chest I get a sour milky yoghurt sort of smell that is almost stomach churning. This is very, very weird indeed. Based on the wrist smell, it is probably worth getting a bottle, but based on the chest smell, no way.

 

Hmmmm, do I don't I?

[Czarina]

Decant from a circle.

 

In the imp: yummy vanilla cream.

Wet: the dreaded WINTERGREEN cream! ARGHH.

Drydown: Milk of magnesia.

 

I am so, so sad. I just love saffron scents. I was sure I was going to buy a bottle of this unsniffed. But I have given this several test runs, and on my skin it is consistent wintergreen.

 

I am so, so sad.

 

ETA 4/24/2008: I had the opportunity last night to do a side-by-side sniff of my decant with a bottle of Love's Philosophy in the possession of the lovely Eleri (see her review, supra).

 

The two are DIFFERENT. Hers does not have the overwhelming wintergreen effect. Mine still does, so it's not an issue of aging the stuff. She could smell the difference as well.

 

Sigh.

Edited April 24, 2008 by Czarina

[steelxrose]

Love's Philosophy

 

First impression: car fresheners. You know, those little tree things that you can hang from the rear view mirror? I came across one that smelled something like Love's Philosophy - maybe it was supposed to be vanilla scented? Either way, that's what LP reminded me of.

 

Sorry. Pass.

[waternight]

In the bottle: ARE YOU SURE I CAN'T DRINK THIS???? Because oh my god do I want to. It smells like the most amazingly delicious buttercream frosting, with a delicious spiciness in the background.

Wet/Dry: I smell like a cheap vanilla candle. That someone poured cream soda on.

[binaryfaerie]

The vanilla and cream make this smell like a too-rich dessert. I feel full and nauseous at the same time when I sniff this one (and I haven't even had anything to eat yet today.) Time to go wash this one off... >___<

[mom2moms]

Love's Philosophy

 

I love this one!!! It's a comforting warm vanilla cream soda scent with wafering minty goodness. My kids coming running to sniff me when I enter the room as they love this as well!

 

A friend from work kept saying she could smell her deceased fathers pipe tobacco when sitting next to me & how much she loved that scent & missed it as it was a pleasant memory for her. I think I should get her one of her own.

[QueenFae]

Yummy, smooth, wonderful, pure decadence! This is a lovely french vanilla scent. It immediately reminds me of the vanilla note in The Perilous Parlor, which is one of my favorites. It's creamy, feminine, foody, and completely indulgent. I love this, an amazingly simple scent, yet sooo gorgeous. It has strong throw at first, and medium to long staying power.

 

Highly recommended for fans of the Perilous Parlor and The Glowing Vulva at Ryogoku Bridge. Yum!

[Miss Lynx]

A lot of people seem to be excited about this one, but me not as much so, because while I love saffron, vanilla is hit-and-miss on me, and attempts to capture things like "cream" in a scent usually just end up smelling cloyingly synthetic to me. Still, I figured it would be worth a try...

 

Unfortunately, that plasticky/synthetic edge that both fake-food notes and vanilla often have on me is really strong here. Not happy-making, at all. We'll see how it settles in, but unless there's major improvement, or Kettu likes it, this one is going into the swaps.

 

But a couple of hours later, it's a bit fainter but still pretty much the same. Oh well.

 

Now, interestingly, it does eventually get to a stage I really like -- after about six hours! Yummy saffrony goodness. But who wants to wait that long?

 

Grade: C+