Miss Lupescu

[lookingglass]

Animalic musk, with amber, patchouli, ho wood, cypress, almond blossom, golden sandalwood, and strange spices.

I really don't find this feral. Wet it has a sweet chewyness/herbal thing going on that reminds me of TKO but without the lavender. Then the spice really comes out. It reminds me of the more cinnimony blends like Bengal and Chimera. It dries out more complex than these, though, with a slightly fruity drydown (lotus?). Beautiful, powdery musk but alas, the wearlengh and sillage is not in your face like this Mme wants. Must slather repeatedly...

ETA: Raven Moon's GC sister!

[Pika]

I almost entirely agree with the above review!
"Sweet chewyness/herbal" - that's actually exactly it, though I never would have figured out the wording myself. And spicy at the end. The powdery musk is also accurate, but doesn't do it for me. Really smells more traditionally "perfumey" than I was expecting or hoping for.

[jizatt]

Imagine my surprise when I smelled this on my wrist, and it smelled edible. I had to go check the notes and read the reviews to see if I had lost my mind. A couple of others have noticed the same thing though. I get a very softly spicy, edible scent that is ever so quietly cakey - or maybe cookies. But not the heavy or slightly overcooked feel I get from a meant-to-be-foody scent. I bet its the combo of amber and almond blossom. I do smell a hint of the wood coming through as it dries.

 

This might be similar to the Lion on my skin, Ill have to side by side them and see. (eta: At first I thought they were completely different, but the dry Lion does have some in common here. It jsut doesnt have the creamy, food quality that the Miss does. Miss Lupescu is like a creamier, more complicated version of the Lion. I, am a fan.)

Edited September 3, 2009 by CaudaPavonis

[parrot_suspect]

This is lovely, but hard to pin down. Musky, ambery, a touch food-y -- but not too much -- a bit herbal, and a dash of spice wafting out every so often. The smooth/"golden" muskiness is redolent of Ozymandias -- I'd class Miss Lupescu as a sibling or at least a close cousin of Ozymandias. Medium throw and lasting power. Very easy to wear. Somewhat unisex, though leaning more toward feminine. Reminds me a bit of Lady on the Grey, but Lady on the Grey was more masculine-"cologne-y" than this.

 

So glad I bought a bottle!

[Apple]

Oh dear. This is terrible. And heartbreaking.

 

I have been coveting Miss Lupescu since she was released, and have hunted for decants on the forum without success. I don't like to purchase bottles "unsniffed," but I finally decided to spring for a bottle of this as a birthday present to myself. The notes and reviews sounded so good, and I was hoping for a fiercer, more feral version of Bastet (which is one of my all-time favorite BPAL blends but is just a little too tame to be completely perfect)... or, at the very least, to smell like a spicy almond cookie, like some reviewers. That would have been okay, too. (Almond is one of my very favorite notes.)

 

But I got neither of those - not even close. Upon opening the bottle, the scent is very light and mild - almost not there. I'm surprised. I apply some to the back of my hand, and the scent is... not good. It's rubbery and powdery and just gross. But I remain hopeful, and I wait for it to sink into my skin a bit. I check it a few minutes later, and it's even worse. It's like balloons and condoms and exam gloves with a generous dusting of powder. WTF?! It stays in this horrid phase for about an hour and then starts to shift a bit... getting sweeter, with an undercurrent of rootbeer and wintergreen. Like balloons dusted with crushed Pepto Bismol caplets... and maybe some stale black gum drops thrown in for good measure. Dear god, why?

 

I'm going to give Miss Lupescu another try in a couple of weeks to see if that changes anything, and will report back then. I wanted to love her, but I don't think it's going to work out if she continues to insist on smelling like clown sex in Hell.

[angelicruin]

Wood and almond are strongest notes while wet on my skin. Amber is more predominant on dry down.

[misscoldheart]

I'm a sucker for a musk blend, but I'm starting to realize there may be more to life than musk...

I like this one, but it is also quite similar to many other musk blends I have and love. It is a nice powdery musk and the spice keeps it from going to a baby powder sort of powder on me. It's kind of fruity somehow which may be from the almond blossom...Kind of sweet.

I think this is nice, but I don't know that I need another 5ml of musk-based perfume. I think I need to broaden my horizons...

[Venneh]

In the decant, I'm getting musk and spice. Hrm. On my skin, I'm getting the almond blossom, musk, and spices. Mmmm. Second full skin test, just to see what it'll do. I'm getting almond blossom, lovely spices, and musk. This is going to be an unexpected bottle, methinks. Also, by some miracle, I don't get any wood out of this!

Edited July 11, 2010 by Venneh

[Aldercy]

ALMOND FRENCH FRIES.

 

I must me losing my mind.

 

No. I'm not. It's this warm, greasy, starchy note (i.e. french fries) doused with watery almond... and now a heavy dusting of baby powder as well. Wow. Bizarre.

[twofoxes]

80% Almond Cookies

10% Amber

10% Musk

 

The amber and musk fade quickly, leaving a nice little "homemade cookies from grandma's kitchen" feel. Who knew Miss Lupescu was so nurturing...

[filigree_shadow]

Hmm. It's that soft musk that smells like what Ivanushka smelled like to me. I can sorta tell there's almond in it, but it's not as overpowering as almond usually is on me. The other notes aren't yelling loudly, either. The wood notes and the resins are blended together wonderfully.

 

The best word I can use to describe this is soft. I'm not amping anything in it, there's no distinct prominent note, and even though I put more than the usual amount of oil on for a test, it's not very strong.

 

The thing is, I like it. I like it a lot. It smells lovely. But I really can't smell it at all until my nose is about two inches from the place where I put it. I like to be able to smell the perfume I'm wearing, especially when it's something as beautiful as this one. I guess my skin eats it up or something. I'm kinda bummed about this.

[stellamaris]

Fantastic. Absolutely the best "foodie" scent ever. And for me, it's not faint or fleeting either. This is a warm spicy delicious one, that I keep in my pocketbook and slather all day long. Just enough spice to temper the sweetness.

[ReallyZeb]

Wet, it is all almond and I get nothing else. Once it dries it becomes a lovely slightly spicy, slightly almondy musk. There's not much throw to it for a musky blend. Definitely a keeper but I'm not sure if it warrants a bottle

[84trillion]

What a perfect scent for my favorite character from The Graveyard Book! The musk isn't too heavy, the spices are strange, and something is warm and fuzzy and comforting about it. Perfect. 9/10!

[yakiguri]

Mmm, soft, warm, fuzzy, spicy almondy goodness. I agree the musky powderiness is reminiscent of that found in Ozymandias and Baghdad, but it's not as dry as Ozymandias and doesn't have the rose of Baghdad. What a throw too! Not sure if I'd wear it enough to warrant a bottle but I'll definitely keep my decant, and snatch up a partial if I see one.

[JazzieCazzie]

Received an imp of this as an amazing and unexpected extra in a swap, straight off my wishlist!!!

 

IN THE IMP: Predominantly almond to me. For some reason, whenever there is almond in a blend it's the first thing I smell. But this sweet almond is tempered almost immediately by what I THINK is the sandalwood but could be the ho wood.

 

Dabbed on one wrist, rubbed to the other, and also dabbed in the crook of one arm.

 

WET: Very, very sweet and delicious. My immediate vibe is very snickerdoodlish but the surplus of wood and resins and musk keep it from going full-on bakery/foody and more complex.

 

DRYDOWN: The musk becomes much more prominent as it dries down. I get NO patchouli at all from this, at least not noticeably as an individual note (I like patchouli but I can live with/without it). To me, this is too sweet to be really sexy and too sexy to be really sweet, but whatever it is, I like it a lot. ... A few people have noted a "cola" note sort of like what's in Voodoo, and since "cola" is my favorite BPAL note (not really a note, I know, but I love cola-like scents like Schwarzer Mond, Lycaon and Voodoo), I can sort of ALMOST smell it but not full-on ... Almost like it's phantom-cola. I wonder if it could be the amber? I DO see a Voodoo comp though.

 

OVERALL: Sugar cookies in a headshop. Not that there's anything wrong with THAT combination!

 

On a scale of 1-5, a 4+

[unlaced]

I ordered this from the lab months ago (if not a year ) and I have just gotten around to testing it. Whoops Anyway:

 

In the bottle: Wow, that's certainly... something. From the bottle all I get is dry woods and...cherry? (though reading the scent description again (I test without looking at the notes first, usually) that cherry smell is probably almond.

 

Wet: This is very... astringent. That's kind of a bad word to use. This actually really reminds me of The King of Hearts when it's super fresh. The lavender and cherry in KoH smells very similar to Miss Lupescu at this stage. I don't think Miss Lupescu has any lavender in it but it has that astringent, slightly herbal thing that I associate with fresh lav. I don't particularly like lavender but I can put up with in blends where it isn't so prominent and it's not brand new and hasn't had a chance to mellow.

 

Drydown/Long wear: As this dries down, it gets creamier and less sharp but it's still not a scent I can really see myself wearing.

[MuskWitch]

Wow. I must be weird, or at least my skin chemistry is. I do get the almond from the oil in the bottle, but when it is on my skin, the almond disappears. That is weird because most scents with almond in them go straight to "almond hell" on my skin.

 

I get the musk and spices, almost no patchouli, and a lovely sweet wood in the background. I loved the imp I swapped for so much that I ordered two bottles. I can see this one going into my "favorites" box.

[theseagrows]

at first i swear i smell a hint of lavender, but maybe it's cypress? i'm not sure. in the beginning, the scent is reminiscent of some of the dark lavender BPAL's i've tried (love and pain, the emathides) which are favorites. i think i'm getting wood, spices, musk and almond as well. after a bit the cypress fades and i'm left with a sweet woody and musky scent. it does smell very golden and i really don't sense any patchouli in this at all. it gets less sweet after the almond blossom burns off and i think then i smell the patchouli. at this point it's a nutty musky patchouli. it's nice but not an absolute favorite.

 

[Teamama]

Miss Lupescu, from a forum purchase.

 

In the bottle, I smell mostly sweet almond & very faint patchouli.

 

On me, the almond & patch quickly recede, and Miss L. becomes a spicy amber with faint musk. I'm not catching the ho wood, sandalwood, or cypress. She's very pleasant, and a lot lighter than I had expected.

 

Medium wear length, very good in my silver scent locket.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Whoa. Interesting. Not like any musk I have ever smelled before. I don't know what I am smelling - it smells oily? And maybe like kitchen spices (of the more savoury variety). Odd! Maybe some wood and cinnamon as well. It's quite homey, really, but also a little "off" which I suppose makes perfect sense!

 

 

Dry: This is such a strange scent on me. I can't describe it. It's like something has gone off, like the almond is actually rancid almond oil, doused in pepper. It's not good. I will let it rest for a few months and give it another go.