Lilith and the Jarocho

[LunaLovegood]

In the past eight months since Lilith was born, Ted and I have had many moments of unutterable joy. There is one, in particular, that stands out from the rest as perfect.

Our daughter loves music… everything from the clank of her toy piano, to unending looped choruses of "You Are My Sunshine" (with Moonshine variants) and "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" (or Bat) sung by her mother at naptime, to a rousing round of "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" belted out by her father at playtime, to all the hair band videos she watches on Metal Mania.

This kid LOVES music.

On the last Saturday in April, Ted and I took Lilith to Olvera Street, and stopped at the El Paseo Inn for lunch. While we were waiting for our food, the band came to stand behind our table, and Lili was riveted by their music. At the end of the first song, she clapped! Holy hell, that was adorable. The singer saw Lilith clapping and staring, and walked over to us. This sweet, wonderful man serenaded her.

There was a Perfect Moment -- the kindness on the singer’s face as he sang to my baby, Lilith’s eyes as wide as saucers, her hands in prayer position, and the joy radiating from my husband -- this was a moment that brought me to tears.

This scent is a swirl of everything I felt, sensed, smelled, and saw right then, at that perfect point in time: Jasmine, vanilla, Spanish cedar, moss, marigold, purple verbena, candied tamarind, lime rind, a splash of margaritas on a nearby table, a little bit of Dorian, a little bit of Snake Oil, and a bright bouquet of mal de ojo.

Downtown LA is a magical place, I tell ya!

Ok, I'll try to describe this as best I can, but bear with me, as I'm not the bast at detecting notes.

On the bottle is very lemony. In fact, I detect mainly margaritas with salt and a bit of earthiness that I guess would come from the herbs maybe mal de ojo?
On my skin it goes lemony. Not lemon pledge in the way Yuki Onna was, but this is a simple refreshing lemon. Citrus at its best.
I couldnt detect any Dorian or Snake Oil, which I was kind of hoping for. But if you're a citrus lover, this is a most.

Oh and the bottle with Miss Lilith is the cutest thing evah!

[angelicruin]

Sniffing the bottle, it's jasmine and margarita mix.

 

Wet on my skin, I'm getting the lime rind, Dorian, moss, and some floral. Fortunately, the jasmine is not coming out on my skin. Jasmine often goes bad with my chemistry. No snake oil though at this point.

 

Dry, this is mostly lime, moss, and Dorian. I didn't really get any Snake Oil out of this blend. I'm hoping as the oil settles and ages though, the Snake Oil will come out.

 

 

[Gin]

Lilith and the Jarocho

 

Citrussy! I get mostly citrus at first, drying down to Dorian, jasmine, and light smoke.

[sfsassy]

Interesting mix. I do get a margarita vibe and jasmine, lemon and herbs. If I had to compare it to a traditional perfume it is a lot like Coney Island from Bond #9 but with Jasmine.

 

want to see how it ages. But my first impression is good.

 

I also LOVE the bottle art. Super cute!!

[Dark Alice]

This smells like the joy in music, with the hint of laughter of a lovely baby girl, with hints of jasmine and lemon.

 

I love this....it's light, unintrusive, and darling.

[nenia]

First sniff reminded me a bit of Faiza, has a similar citrus vibe to it. I like this much better though.

Flowers and lemon-lime. maybe the slightest wisps here and there of SO and Dorian, but barely.

This reminds me of a Mexican restaurant I went to in San Diego years ago that had a huge fountain with margaritas sitting around the top and outdoor seating. Yummmm!

Goes on initially very strong but doesn't last too long.

I posted a picture in the "what do labels look like?" thread

 

ETA: I adore adore adore this scent!!! it just doesn't have much staying power on me but I can try to work with that.

Edited June 1, 2009 by nenia

[dixiehellcat]

The label made me squee when I opened the bottle this afternoon.

 

Oddly enough, while I get a hit of citrus right off, I also get a sorta sweet-and-sage vibe from it. In fact, after sniffing for a minute I realized it reminded me in the bottle of Dia de los Muertos. On, as it starts to dry the jasmine comes out, and I'm not sure if that's what's doing this or what, but it starts to develop a hint of something reminiscent of Chanel #5!

 

Wish it lasted a little longer, but then, I didn't put much on for my first try. On the whole I really like it. Lovely, Beth!

[Thursdae]

I really love this. The lime is deep, almost nestling into the wood and moss, while the floral notes swirl with musky sweetness. There probably isn't any honey but I can imagine magical bees swarming around me searching in vain for a tree in bloom!

 

It puts me in mind of a favorite of mine, House of Night. But I think I say that every time I love something.

[Jenn2D2]

I'm so glad I ordered a bottle of this!

 

In the bottle: a bright floral and citrus swirl, with a bit of woodsy cedar and moss lurking in the background.

Wet: a perfect blend of scents, difficult to determine one specific scent out of all of them. It strikes me as a very feminine perfume, without being too sweet or overly mature.

Dry: the dry-down was very complex, with each of the notes coming out to play a bit. At first, the tamarind and lime give off a good citrus note, followed by the jasmine, cedar and moss. Finally, I get the notes of vanilla, snake oil, and tea (which I'm assuming is Dorian). The last notes last the longest for me.

 

I was a bit conservative in the amount I put on: sometimes jasmine amps horribly on me, so I'm not sure of the throw. Thankfully, the other notes blend so well, that the jasmine never had a chance to try to steal the show. This so well embodies the perfect memory described in the inspiration for the scent. I get the feeling this is going to be one of my secret favorites.

[ravenfeathers]

in the bottle lemony! that's odd. it's sweet and syrupy lemon, quite spicy, too. this is really gorgeous!

wet on skin LEMON. that spiciness is still there, but quite overwhelmed by this dark, sweet lemon.

dry on skin oh, crap. jasmine. let me say that jasmine is one of my few absolute NO notes, but i trusted in all the YES notes in this and did it anyway. the jasmine is easily the prettiest, spiciest, sexiest (that's inappropriate in this blend, okay, now i feel soiled) jasmines that i've ever smelled, but it's still jasmine.

 

the dry sweetness of dorian is peeking through and there's definitely a sweet citrus vibe and some soft, dry herbal notes. it's all very sweet and soothing. blast jasmine.

 

if you can't get enough of jasmine, i'd say this is the best jasmine blend from the lab to date and a must-have.

[akw]

In the bottle and wet, I don't get lemon but I get what I think is the combination of lime and tamarind -- sweetened lime on a base of spiciness and a hint of Snake Oil and Dorian. It's fresh, lively, beautiful and interesting. I grew up in So. Calif., and I totally get the concept of the scent when it's wet.

 

I almost didn't buy it because of the jasmine, but it's so subtle, that even I can wear it.

 

After about an hour, I get mostly Snake Oil with a faint hint of Dorian. Fortunately, Snake Oil is among my top 5, but I wish the top notes lasted longer.

 

I'm soooo looking forward to seeing how it all integrates with time. I envision this becoming a summer staple.

 

 

ETA: After just a few days, the mostly Snake Oil after an hour thing totally changed. Maybe it just needed to settle down from shipping. The greatest wonderfulness is still during the first hour or two, but the complexity of the scent now carries on for a long time. Woke up smelling it in my hair this morning.

Edited June 1, 2009 by KateW

[MeiLin]

In the bottle: Jasmine! oh noes! But it quickly fades to something less soapy and more subtle.

 

Wet: Jasmine! oh noes! Wait--here comes lime around the back turn! Oh, it's lime, it's lime, lime's neck and neck with the jasmine, and--it's margaritas, ladies and gentlemen!

 

Drydown: It hasn't dried all the way yet, but oh! this is a happy smell! It is very reminiscent of the old and interesting parts of Los Angeles, my old home that I rarely miss but miss smelling this. The jasmine is back, but manageable. The lime and margarita smell is fading but still apparent, and now there's the moss and something that smells like terra cotta pots--don't know how else to describe it.

 

Oh, I really, really like it! I'm glad I have a bottle.

[mineralgirl]

 

I got this because the story was so incredibly cute and was so full of sentiment that I just had to support Beth in it. I actually bought two of these .. I have no idea what made me do that!

 

In the bottle it's very much a sharp floral and on it stays floral with a citrusy vibe. I do get the salt and lime of the margarita but it has more flowers than I'd personally like ..I wish it had fallen onto the sweet side of the fence just a smidge more. It's the jasmine that is keeping it so white hot floral.. but I don't hate jasmine at all.. it's one of the few florals I can wear and like.

 

However.. after awhile on the final dry down, it went stinky on me. I have two bottles of it. Damn. It dried completely down to a floral that reminds me of a nursing home ... it smells 'mature' for lack of a better word. Not something I will personally wear.

 

I'm bummed. I wanted to love it. The bottle art is so incredibly adorable too.

 

 

[AnArtfuldodger]

In the bottle: very sharp...reminds me of lemon pledge with a sharp floral bite to it.

 

Wet on wrist: Very citrusy. Nice, though! There's a hint of booze in there that's gone just as quickly as it arrived.

 

On the drydown: the jasmine and lemon are really fighting a battle to the death over who gets to be the dominant note here. One minute it'll be the citrus, the next it's the jasmine. I'm not getting any snake oil (which is fine with me, since snake oil never works well on me, not in regular SO, not in Snake Charmer, not in Lilith Victoria), but neither am I getting any Dorian (alas, my sweet, my love!). Cedar usually amps on my skin, and my skin usually loves anything booze-related too, so I was hoping those would show up, but all I'm really getting here is a citrus/jasmine OTP.

 

I'll have to try it again when I'm not trying several oils in a day (just got my order), but I'm not sure if this one is a keeper or not at this point.

[lbfury3]

I am so jealous of anybody that gets anything other than Jasmine in this. Soo strong I had to steal one of [my] Lily's baby wipes and scrub it off. However I now smell lightly of Jasmine which is actually quite nice. I wish I had gotten some citrus out of this.

I do love the bottle art

Edited May 30, 2009 by lbfury3

[stellans]

I ordered this blend even though the first note listed is the temperamental jasmine because the story behind it was so very appealing...and I knew the label art would be amazing -- and it is, it is! And surprisingly, the jasmine is playing nicely with me this morning! Woo-hoo!

 

True to the description, jasmine is the first note I sniff both in the bottle and on my skin. The vanilla is in there, lending a bit of sultry sweetness, but it’s the lime and margaritas which really sell this blend on me. Oh my, yes -- I’m a lime-a-holic, and that’s probably why the jasmine works for me in this blend That, and the jasmine’s not lingering past the initial 10 minutes or so. The lime, Dorian’s creamy tea goodness and Snake Oil’s sensual goodness help forestall the possibility of jasmine rebellion, and keep it safely (for me) in the background. Yay!

 

Even had this blend not worked well, I would keep the bottle because that happy little baby face just makes me go weak at the knees and all pudding-soft in the heart. I'm so happy I can wear the scent as well as enjoy the label art. Win-win, w00t!

Edited September 7, 2011 by stellans

[topaz]

In the bottle : lemony jasmine

 

On the skin wet: lime, margaritas and ::sniff:: marigold!

 

Dry: each sniff is different. Lemony tea, then cedar (I love cedar wood), some boozy lime, there's a bit of Snake Oil...very complex and very lovely.

 

Have to agree about the bottle art-- even if I didn't love the scent, that little girl is just the cutest!!

[Brianne]

This is really simple on me - lemony jasmine. More jasmine than lemon, but that's all I get (such is the way of jasmine on my skin). Dries down into a powdery smell (like jasmine scented talc or something)

[PersephonesChild]

Wearing this perfume was like going on the journey! Fresh on my skin, I got a fair bit of margarita backed by jasmine-- and I mean, I could smell the salt on the rim, it was that clear. The lime slowly wore off, and in about 15 minutes, it was jasmine-- lovely jasmine, though, not that kind that smells like stinky diapers or soap or my grandmother's bathroom air freshener, just a lovely light floral! Several hours later, I got the Dorian-- vanilla tea, and sugar, coming out under the jasmine. And finally, in the very late dry-down stage, it became straight-up Snake Oil.

 

It was tons of fun to wear this, and I'm happy to find such an agreeable jasmine scent, since my boyfriend really likes it!

[tat2dluvgirl]

I bought this because Lilith Victoria is my absolute favorite, and I thought this would be(a little Lilith Victoria with a twist. Well, it wasn't what I was hoping for, and I'm not sure I'll be keeping it.

 

I don't get Snake Oil, cedar, or vanilla at all, which is a disappointment. Jasmine is the dominant, and overwhelming, component. Under that would be the hint of margarita mix. It didn't seem to morph much on dry down either.

 

It doesn't seem very unique to me. When I first put it on I immediately thought of ... can't remember, but I know it is something I've long gotten rid of (Grandmother of Ghosts, or maybe Beatrice). It also became quite powdery on me.

 

 

[oakmoss]

My skin usually amps jasmine, so I was cautious about applying this, but I needn't have worried. Spicy sweet in the bottle, it became the most perfect lemon EVER on my skin. I know everyone always compares everything lemon to Lemon Pledge, which I see as a tribute to all the dusting their mothers must have done. Maybe my mom didn't dust enough, but my lemon association for this perfume is the reincarnation of Love's Fresh Lemon that I loved as a teenager back in the 18th century. Sweet fresh lemon with just a touch of vanilla. It stayed that way for about half an hour, then completely -- I mean, completely -- morphed with a poof into something softly floral, just a whisper, and then it was gone. It was like lemonlemonlemonlemonfloralgone, within an hour. I'll apply more next time, and see what happens, but maybe this is just one of those ephemeral things, like the sweet moments that inspired Beth to create it.

[LizzyLies]

So, I'm a total sucker for forum only scents and the description was really, really cute--and so is the label!

I don't get much from just sniffing the bottle, but that changes once I put it on my skin. It's clean and refreshing, and for some reason it reminds me a bit of LUSH's Avobath bomb. I get jasmine, a lime margarita, and a decent throw--thankfully, this doesn't go to powder on me.

Overall I'm content with my bottle, glad that I bought it, and it's going to be a fun scent to wear this summer.

[penemuel]

I nearly cried when I got this -- somehow the lid cracked, and a little bit of oil leaked. It wasn't a bad leak, and I replaced the cracked cap with a wand cap, but everything smelled of JASMINE. I wanted the scent to be all of its other elements and a whiff of jasmine, but it seemed like jasmine had gone on a murderous rampage and killed every other scent in the bottle...

 

I put it aside for a week, hoping that maybe it just needed to settle, and just tried it again now.

 

Never, ever make a snap decision after sniffing BPAL right out of the shipping box. I am so glad I kept it and gave it a second chance, because now the jasmine has backed off and the other scents have come forward. It is a bright, happy scent, and I think it perfectly evokes the image Beth gave us the story of. It's wonderfully complex. I can still smell the jasmine, but I can smell the lime, and I think I can smell a little bit of the tea from Dorian and some sweetness that is probably the Snake Oil or the vanilla.

 

Wet in the bottle, the jasmine is still there, but there's a bright juicy lime scent that is just yummy! (I love lime!) If the jasmine continues to behave itself, this is a keeper and the perfect summer scent!

[Finny]

This is lovely. A perfect summery scent.

 

The lime and jasmine are quite strong at first, but they settle down after a bit. It becomes truly lovely then, very lightly sweet, a hint of vanilla, a medley of light flowers, the tiniest bit of earthiness, with just a hint of Snake Oil and Dorian.

[Heavenlyrabbit]

WAY exceeded my expectations. Especially since so many had mentioned X-strength Jasmine/Lemon.

 

I get a Lime/Vanilla/Margarita with a very pretty touch of Jasmine. MAYBE some Cedar and Moss on dry down.

 

Apparently, my skin chemistry amps the other notes enough that they blend into the Jasmine and all complement each other perfectly.

 

The only reason I usually avoid Jasmine blends is cause it's so overwhelming no other notes shine through. Lilith and Jarocho has lots of loud, vibrant notes to go with the Jasmine. They all hold their own nicely.