Valuable, Powerful, Deserving

[suki]

In a hotel in Baltimore, Lilith helped me color in my sign for the Womens March in DC. She had made her own two signs brimming with Girl Power and featuring a unicorn, of course but finished in time to help me get mine all dolled up.

There are many criticisms of the march that are valid, but I will tell you this: being able to show my daughter thousands upon thousands of people that were demanding a government built on justice, compassion, and acceptance was something incredibly powerful. The experience she had meeting other children who were there in the hopes of a kinder, brighter future was invaluable. It was a pivotal moment, this ability to demonstrate for her /how to show up/ and how to /work/ for a better country and a better future for marginalized and under-represented groups. It was incredible being there in Washington with her, and I will never forget it. I hope this experience helped to reveal her own inner strength to her, and the strength she can find in her allies.

Golden amber, vanilla oudh, and orange blossom.

In The Bottle: A wave of gorgeous, nostalgia-inducing orange blossom, with a hint of dark vanilla bringing up the rear.

Wet On Skin: Orange blossom is still the dominant note for sure, with the vanilla acting as something to soften the rough edges. I'm not getting any amber at this stage.

Dry Down: This is the orange blossom scent of my DREAMS. I am *not* a floral person, but orange blossom generally comes across as summer days and a slight beach-y vibe and this fragrance delivers on all of the above. Upon this full dry-down, the amber comes out, just at the end, like instead of an aftertaste, its an after-smell, and it's really good, lending a warmth and depth to the whole affair.

In All: So, so, so beautiful.

[Nikki Scarlet]

I ordered both this and Cemetery Creep as my first-ever Lilith order. I loved the story behind this scent, but also . . . I love orange. I love vanilla. I want to smell like a creamsicle. This sounded like it might possibly let me do that.

In the bottle:
It's no creamsicle so far, but it is an interesting scent. I definitely get hints of the orange blossom and the vanilla in the vanilla oudh. I think the amber is the strongest scent, though. I have a hard time smelling amber for whatever reason, but this one's coming through fairly strong.

On me, wet and dry:
At first the orange almost disappears and this is primarily golden amber, but over time the orange blossom returns and, possibly in combination with the vanilla oudh (which I think is too subtle to stand on its own but manages to add weight to the orange blossom) adds a little more sweetness and complexity. I feel like there's actually a strange similarity between this and Cemetery Creep. Valuable, Powerful, Deserving has more gravitas and is more golden, but I'm wearing one on each wrist and it feels like they could be siblings. Their throw is about equal: close to the skin but still strong enough to enjoy. VPD is possibly a touch stronger than CC.

Verdict:
It's not the foodie scent I was hoping for, but it's got a nice, brassy sweetness to it and is pretty well blended. If you like Cemetery Creep, you may also enjoy this as a slightly bolder and more complex alternative.

Edited September 20, 2017 by Nikki Scarlet

[boomtownrat]

Valuable, Powerful, Deserving is a beautiful skin scent with staying power. It's not at all creamsicle-like on me. The amber, wood, and orange blossom combination reminds me of a much softer sister to A Bright Flame Between Two Jacinths, which is one of my favourite anniversary scents. I love what it represents and I think it's going to be perfect for occasions when I want to feel more powerful or sophisticated.

 

Edited on 6/29/2018: I reached for this today as a kind of security blanket, since there is even more reason to protest. It's no longer similar to Two Jacinths at all, and I'm getting more of the vanilla in "vanilla oudh." There's also more amber, which is always a good thing as far as I'm concerned. It's still not a creamsicle but it's closer than it was. I don't have anything else like it.

Edited June 29, 2018 by boomtownrat

[Alexis Trout]

Dry. Some kind of nut? Intriguing! On initial application the smell of the vanilla was strong. I didn't get any amber from this at all, but that's just me. I was hoping for the amber! This is a lovely autumnal scent.

[zankoku_zen]

Orange blossom and amber. This is bright neroli note, and on the drydown it sort of smells like orange fruit loops, but hey, orange and sugar! Good throw and wear length.

[Jenjin]

Fear not, oudh haters. The oudh here is opulent and a softly wooded-foresty. I suspect it is what gives this fragrance its heart, and it is exquisite. I love this one. I slathered it on last night just before my husband arrived home, and when he hugged me hello, he couldn't stop smelling me and saying how I smelled good. I seldom get that reaction, even though i'm always scented. The amber here shines for me, and the orange blossom goes all candied with a warm, slightly spicy finish. I would say this is slightly oriental in tone, and one of Lilith's greatest hits for me this year.

Edited October 5, 2017 by Jenjin

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Pretty much what it says on the tin - beautiful amber swirled with orange blossom. The amber is sweet enough to balance the orange blossom (which turns horribly bitter on my skin most of the time) and I am actually quite enjoying this. It's much richer than your typical floral. I'm digging it.

 

 

Dry: I don't think there has ever been an orange blossom scent that I enjoyed, but this is quite nice. I still can't imagine wearing it, I have so many other scents that I do love more, but this is really nice. I imagine if you loved orange blossom this would be one of those "omg must have" scents. I am glad I tried it! Proved I can occasionally wear orange blossom and I don't have to avoid it at all costs.

[JazzieCazzie]

Just to preface, I admit I bought this for the OB. I ADORE OB, don't see it often, and held out hope after reading the reviews.

 

IN THE IMP: Sweet and golden and round but not quite fruity and not a note I can put a finger on.

 

Applied to wrist and to crook of arm.

 

WET: Interestingly, the first note to really rise on me is the amber, but a wet and sweet amber, perhaps tempered by the vanilla, with a teensy-tiny bit of wood (the oudh?). Very pleasant, soft, nice.

 

INITIAL DRYDOWN: There is something slightly perfumey about this, like a scent that would be a huge hit with younger girls/women who are just venturing into finding "their first scent." The one that will lead them down all sorts of paths but will always remind them of becoming a young woman. A little creamsicle-y for me.

 

FINAL DRYDOWN: It actually goes a little "nutty" on me, as if there were almond in it ... which I guess could be the vanilla. Sweetly nutty, pleasant, soft.

 

VERDICT: Definitely not "me." Sadly, I never got anything that I associated with orange blossom. But I can see this being a very popular scent and one that I think would be a great gift, as mentioned, for the young woman/girl/teen in your life that you might want to "turn on" to BPAL ... the message of course is a wonderful one, and it's a lovely scent. It's just not for me. To the Boobiepalooza Box with the jumbo imps.

[milo]

Oude does scare me, but this sounded so much like my beloved Khrysee, that I had to at least give it a try. In the imp and wet, very much oude, and faint orange blossom and vanilla in the background. Dry, very similar to Khrysee, only maybe a bit more of an 'edge', stronger than K. Too similar to warrant any more, but it is absolutely gorgeous, and if you missed out on K, and love orange blossom and amber, you HAVE to get it. Amber and orange blossom do pair lovely on me if I do say.

[torikitty]

In the bottle, I get a sharp note. I don't get orange blossom or vanilla. I'm not sure if it's neroli or amber. It calms down significantly once it's on my skin. But it still doesn't smell like orange blossom. It ends up smelling like weird beach air, with a whiff of something citrus on the breeze. And then goes plasticy. Not sure what is going on. My skin doesn't like something here.

[joyfulgirl]

when i first put this on, it smelled strongly of cigarette smoke to me, and i was initially pretty turned off. but it absolutely blossoms on my skin and becomes gorgeous - perfectly balanced and blended. the lab's oudh is just fantastic, and this is a warm, cozy, comforting scent. definitely the sleeper hit of this year's liliths for me.

[Lucchesa]

VPD was the one Lilith I coveted most. I am having a run of good luck with oudh, and amber, vanilla and orange blossom are all right in my wheelhouse. Sadly, the moment it hits my skin, it goes awry, into high-end liquid hand soap territory. I'm getting very little oudh, mostly artificial orange blossom, amber and vanilla. I'm going to wait it out and see but something about this combination is not working with my chemistry. So sad!

[Lunameth]

I tried this after leaving it a day, and there was a distinctive 'green' note that I wasn't expecting. It stayed through most of the dry down and I was disappointed it wasn't sweeter. I decided to try again in a week to see if anything changed, and here I am today with this beautifully sweet, golden, vanilla amber, and it actually reminds me of a lighter Snake Oil.

[mari4212]

Wet on skin: there's a strong classical perfumey edge to this at first, which I think is a mix of the oude and the orange blossom floral. This is a bit sharper than I normally like my perfumes to be.

 

Initial drydown: VPD loses the sharp edge that was making me unsure of it, and the amber kicks in to mellow out the other notes. Now it's more of a rounded perfume, with a bit more sweetness to it.

 

Later: This softens with the amber as it goes. I'm still getting flashes of sweetness from the orange blossom. Overall, it's really hard to pick out individual notes on this perfume, they all blend into one another.

[LiberAmoris]

The message behind this one was so powerful that I had to try it, and I'm not disappointed. I've tested it a few times, and my experience with it improves with each test—I think it may have needed to rest/age longer than some of the others from my Lilith order.

 

Orange blossom is strong at first, with the golden amber right behind. The vanilla oudh is in the mix as well, with the oudh nicely in check. If I didn't have the note list, I'd swear there was a warm, mild patchouli in here. Reminiscent of Vixen and Alma Venus in spirit, this is an orange blossom-centric blend that mellows into something very comforting and gorgeous. I'm grateful for my bottle, and if I'd been timely in my testing this year, I probably would have bought a back up.