The Instructional Manual

[sunlitgarden]

Cherry blossoms falling into folds of red musk, bourbon vanilla, and strawberry cream.

In the decant: Creamy strawberry candy! I can smell the red musk in the background giving this a bit of spice/depth.

On my skin: Again, creamy strawberry candy. I haven't had one in a long time but it makes me think of strawberry Cream Savers (creamy hard candies) which I used to love. The tiny bit of red musk is making me think of eating Cream Savers near the door to a headshop with some faint incense wafting out when someone opens the door. But mostly this is incredibly sweet and creamy strawberry candy. I don't smell the cherry blossom specifically but it might be adding to the overall "pinkness" of this scent.

I'm trying to stick to decants to keep my collection's size under control but I kind of regret not buying a bottle of this one! I'm a strawberry fan and this is lovely, not boozy or overripe like some of them have been on me.

Edited January 16, 2017 by sunlitgarden

[rconklin]

Revisiting Lupers from last year (especially because I cannot remember what most of them smelled like). Immediately on my skin, this smells like some Japanese strawberry gummy candies that I had recently. It seems to disappear almost immediately and I layer it on two more times to try to get a sense of it. This seems odd as my skin generally amps up red musk and vanilla (not in a bad way), but for the life of me, I can barely smell anything at all...Huffing my arm close to my skin, there is that light cherry blossom floral underlying strawberry (less candy-like now) and tinge of vanilla--it is really lovely, but just seems to cling so close that I'm not sure how wearable I would find it on a regular basis.

[capncait]

The Instructional Manual is probably the most "innocent" red musk has ever smelled on me. Don't get me wrong, it is plenty sexy, but sweet and wholesome at the same time. I have to give it to Beth, once again, for capturing the essence of the art.

 

Overall, the red musk is simply a vehicle for the other notes. While I can get the bourbon vanilla, it feel that it simply is adding more creaminess. The true stars of this show are the floral cherry blossoms and the strawberry cream. For me, those notes are the most prominent in the bottle, and they remain prominent both wet and during the drydown. As the blend settles on my skin, the strawberry mellows, but the creaminess remains. The throw on this perfume is great for about 4 hours, and then it becomes a very subtle skin scent after that. Despite that, still beautiful and one of my favorites.