Cock Stamen

[suki]

Red orchid, dragon’s blood resin, blood orange, black lily, honey amber, and cacao.

In The Bottle: This, in this stage, is honestly *way* more subdued than I anticipated. The honey is there, the blood orange is there and just a rind of the dragon's blood. It's very delicate.

Wet On Skin: This is sort of a classic Lupercalia scent in that it's got the promise of an early spring as noted by the faint lily, and it's still very alluring, as the red orchid comes to the fore.

 

Dry Down: This reminds me a bit of a Body Shop scent I wore AGES ago called Juba- it's delicately sweet and bright with both floral and citrus notes. It's a bit more "perfume-y" than I normally wear, but it's so lovely that I will gladly make an exception!

 

Also, a side note: I admit I don't always see the direct connection between the chosen notes and the accompanying Shunga. With Cock Stamen, I *absolutely* see it in spades!

[Lycanthrope]

Yes, I can immediately smell everything on the skin when wet - orange, amber, cocoa powder, and honey, but a thin, sweet, idea of honey, not too gloopy. It starts off very chewy, almost toffee-rich and very gourmand. As it sits on my skin, battling it out, it seems to lighten, and veers on me towards sweet orange honey cocoa. The lilies and orchids are in the background, but I mostly get a yellow day-lily kind of floral sitting lightly upon a slightly dry, almost 'reedy' orange that's been rolled in dry cocoa and honey powder. Very much like what I'd imaging the pollen from cock stamens to smell like.

Oh my.

 

I'll have to give this one a few more wears, it's a bit of a chameleon.

 

It kind of reminds me of 'Love-Lies-Bleeding,' one of my favorite chocolate-y-velvet-florals, although where that one gave me the color brownish-burgundy, this is a bit of a yellow-orange gilded with brown and gold accents.

[Dark Alice]

I smell like the song Coca Cabana honestly. Having watched a Vegas dancer lip sync this song with the bright orange dress, blue headband, glittery lights, this is what I imagine she smelled like. Exotic florals with a splash of glitter. It's rare that a scent evokes an image from my past, but here it does. It was a lovely memory from my time in Vegas with my husband. It makes me sad now that he is gone, so it will go off to a better home where it will be loved.

[RedPersimmon]

Starts off citrus-lily-cacao. It's full, sophisticated, a juicy yet restrained fruity floral. Not too sweet. A few minutes later, citrus-lily/orchid begins alternating with a soft peach-cacao. Dry-down is lemony resin. At the very end, the skin scent is spicy honey floral. This one morphs a lot and I like all of the phases, which is rare for me.

 

Cock Stamen has broad appeal. I can totally see this in Sephora next to the other springtime-appropriate fruity florals. However, this doesn't have the headache-inducing overwhelming throw or the supersweetness of the synthetic perfumes. It's definitely one of my favorites of the 2018 Lupers and I will be getting a bottle.

[zankoku_zen]

Lily, orchid, and dragon's resin and a whiff of honey. I mainly get lilies and orchids, and they are lush and vibrant. It's a very tropical sort of floral blend. Good throw and wear length.

[ramblingrambler]

Very floral—light but huge throw. I could see myself wearing this to a wedding or two this season, so I’ll probably use up my imp, but it isn’t my usual fragrance profile. Beautifully crafted though, and a must if you’re into florals.

[Lucchesa]

Cock Stamen is a floral on me, not a gourmand, and I have to admit I was hoping for more of the latter and less of the former. I love Dragon's Milk but it's the only DBR-heavy scent that really works on me. So what I was hoping for was Dragon's Milk with cacao and blood orange (which would be lovely, oh Lab saints, if you're interceding for us mortals). Instead, I got lilies, orchids, and dragon's blood, lots and lots of dragon's blood. It had a little throw (which for me is a lot of throw) and lasted well through my yoga class, and after 90 minutes or so the blood orange and cocoa did peek out around the edges. So as with Alabaster Vulva, which I was testing on the other wrist, I really like the drydown, and the wear length is excellent for a Shunga, but the wet stage doesn't work on me so well.

[VetchVesper]

Very lush, wet, and juicy. This makes me think of brilliantly colored hibiscuses more than lillies. I get no cocoa. I do smell the orange, orchid, and lily and the dragon's blood. I'm not really aware of any amber, but perhaps it's responcible for the hint of warmth in the dry down. Overall, this smells like a succulent, floral fruit punch. Very red, and thin vs. syrupy.

Edited July 2, 2018 by VetchVesper