BPAL: Land of the Lupers

[gwydion]

The Frimps:
AELOPHILE (Steamworks): (Company says: Glowing amber and citrus, labdanum, verbena, cedar, and oud.)

In bottle: The Verbena and Citrus are quite strong with labdanum support helping to create a nuanced effect. The Oud supports the Cedar, which is a grounding counter point to the Verbana and citrus. This is a light, clean smelling perfume, more sunny garden than cleaning product. It is quite lovely, but unfortunately unlikely to go well with my skin chemistry, so no skin test.

DEFUTUTA (Ars Amatoria): (Company says: Olive blossom, honey, smoky vanilla, cinnamon, jasmine, sandalwood, and champaca flower.)

In bottle: Honey sweet florals on first impression with the jasmine and honey the strongest impressions. The vanilla is second strongest, in support of the honey. The olive and champaca flowers bridge the floral with the sweet. The sandalwood grounds it. The cinnamon gives it a touch of bite. It is delicate and a little chemical. There is no chance of this working on my skin, so no skin test.

JUPITER 2006 (Celestials, Planetary Oils, Discontinued):

In Bottle: (Very aged imp). This reminds me of Sweettarts. It’s wood dominant, very sweet, with a soft incense well blended with the wood. I don’t know which incense, though it reminds me of one that was popular for meditation in the early ‘90’s, elevated, rather than earthy. Wet: The incense is stronger and more complex. The elevated top note in the bottle opens out to the mid and bass ranges, so I’m guessing a blend with a bit of dragon’s Blood to it, as it reminds me of Red Moon 2007 just a little. The probably red wood strengthens again as it warms, and the whole thing plays together beautifully. Given how old this imp is, I can only stand amazed at how well designed this blend is. It doesn’t smell much like reviews described it when it was new, but the bone structure is strong enough to be utterly lovely so much later. Dry: Mostly Redwood with a touch of incense.

NEPTUNE 2006 (Celestials, Planetary Oils, Discontinued):

In Bottle: (Very aged Imp). It’s an aquatic after-shave. I’m thinking it’s fougere dominant with an aquatic accord that has held up surprisingly well. It’s got something dark and green blended with it that I’m pretty sure I’ve smelled in another aquatic, one of the sea associated plants, but I can’t for the life of me tell you which. I’m suspecting a touch of musk. Wet: Hardly any throw. Still strongly fougere dominant with that dark green plant in support, a bit of musk, and what has survived of the aquatic accord. I really like this. I’ve been having trouble carrying aquatics for the last half decade, but this works and is surprisingly sexy. It is sharp, crisp, and masculine. There is something smooth underneath all that fougere. Ambergris accord, maybe, or something similar. As it warms, a hint of what could be bergamot or something similar comes out. This doesn’t smell much like the early reviews, which is not surprising given the lapsed time, but it is really compelling to the nose and this shows how cleverly the blend was designed. Dry: Fougere with a hint of sweet mostly.

Sjöfn (Excolo): (Company says: Our song to the Norse Goddess of Love is scented with apples and birch and bound with apple blossoms.)

In bottle: Very apple. The fruit is lightened by its strongly floral partner. It’s quite sweet. The birch is very understated and mostly grounds it. Wet: The flower is gentler on the skin, but the scent still screams “Apple Tree!” The sweet overripe apples and flowers are still strongly dominant, but the birch is a touch more assertive on the skin than in the bottle. This is too sweet and soprano on me, but it would be gorgeous in the right young woman. Dry: Mostly apple blossoms.

Tlazolteotl (Excolo): (Company says: Her scent is a melding of her symbols and offerings: chapapote and black copal with cacao, black honey, maize, and cotton blossoms.)

In bottle: Very smoke, chalk, and ashes. I’m guessing that’s the chapapote, which the Internet tells me is tar or pitch. This has a strong burnt offering feel to it. The maize is unusually distinct for something usually so delicate, and seems to be a contributor to the burnt offering feel of the chapapote. The cacao is a weak second to the burn, distinct and well supported by honey and the touch of cotton flowers. This gives a gentle sweetness under all that aftermath. The copal is understated and connects the idea of fire’s aftermath to that of the sweeter faction. I am tempted to skin test, but my skin hates smoke and odds are I’d be scrubbing it off imediately. This really does fulfill it’s concept well.

Ordered:
Deadly Nightshade Honey Bonbon 2014 (Lupercalia, Box of Bonbons, LE): (Company says: Nightshade accord-infused summer honey encased in dark chocolate.).

In bottle: What it says on the box. Honey dominant with the floral and herbal scent of nightshade and the bite of dark chocolate. The go together beautifully. You must like honey for this to work for you. Wet: Still pervasively honey, but the nightshade accord really pops on the skin, the flowers dancing with the honey, the bitter berries with the chocolate, and the leaves bridging between them. Dry: It softens as it wears, the nightshade fading down, and the chocolate melting quietly into the honey, which stays strong.

Death Shall Come in with Thee 2014 (Lupercalia, A Ballad of Death, LE): (Company says: Opium poppy, smoke, and tar with green cognac, brittle white vanilla pod, white sandalwood, and clove bud.)

In bottle: A touch more medicinal than expected. Opium dominant supported by cognac and a very soft smoke note. (Often smoke notes are heavy and overwhelming whereas this gives a sensation of a light haze. If you don’t like the standard smoke note, this might still be worth trying.) Vanilla sweetens it slightly. The sandalwood is a soft addition of woody incense, deepening the opium. The hint of clove gives the vanilla a little bite. This is beautifully composed thing, made of incense and smoke, ethereal and heady. Wet: Much as in the bottle in balance. The opium stays dominant. The support elements are all a little more noticeable as individuals, but stay gentle and play beautifully with the opium and each other. If you like opium scents, this is a beautiful scent poem built around that. Dry: The sandalwood comes into it’s own with wear. The clove is still soft, but it stays. The result is a heady, smoky, sexy version of sandalwood, as the lingering remnants of the other elements enrich the sandalwood, like a memory haunting a room. Lovely all the way through its changes.

Diversions in the Chashitsu 2014 (Lupercalia, Shunga, Novel Ideas For Secret Amusements VII, LE): (Company says: Green tea, yellow sandalwood, apple blossom, and white bamboo.)

In bottle: This is lovely, very bright and sunny. The apple blossom and green tea are gorgeous together. The yellow sandalwood grounds and supports them. The bamboo is a gentle bridge between the more assertive elements. The design is really compelling. Wet: On my skin, the apple blossom is slightly stronger than the tea, but otherwise, the balance is similar. It is even more beautiful on the skin, the nuances more distinct with in the bright, light sensation it creates. Seriously, I smile when I sniff this. Dry: Green tea with sandalwood support.

Foolish and Vacuous 2014 (Lupercalia, Clive Barker’s the Forbidden, Century Guild, LE): (Company says: A scent with no depth: a light, reedy, almost vapid take on a classic men’s fougere.)

In bottle: This is pretty much what it says on the tin, a light, bubbly fougere that reminds me of Otto and Leo in Noel Coward’s “Design for Living.” It is masculine, but in a frivolous, flippant sort of way. I love it! Wet: A bit citrusy on the skin, but not overwhelming so. The fougere manages to be just as impertinent, but now with a sense of mischievous sensuality. It makes me want to go swing or ballroom dancing. It makes me want to nip someone’s earlobe. It’s wonderful and wicked and reckless and full of laughter. Dry: Sexy, bright, fougere.

Geisha in a State of Rumpled Annoyance 2014 (Lupercalia, Shunga, Novel Ideas For Secret Amusements VII, LE): (Company says: French lavender, white plum blossom, white ginger, and rice wine.)

In bottle: Heavenly lavender dominant, with a ginger bite. The plum blossom is second strongest, and with the rice wine, give the lavender a sensual body. Wet: The balance shifts, the plum blossom swelling to lift the lavander and ginger which end up floating on a sea of plum wine, still sharp, but now working parts of a smooth and complex whole. Let it wear a little, and the lavender and plum blossoms come to an agreement and dance, holding hands on the wine, while the ginger circles them. This is unique and lovely. Dry: Soft lavender with plum blossom support, and a ghost of rice wine.

THE ILLUSTRATED WOMAN (Carnival Diabolique, Act IV: The Interlude, LE): (Company says: Skin musk, smoky vanilla, pine pitch, patchouli, Indian resins, golden honey, and tobacco.)

In bottle: Pine Pitch and patchouli are strongest, but the tobacco support and Indian resins are strong in this one. The musk is ubiquitous, but well blended. The honey and vanilla are soft and smooth out the edges of what might otherwise be a little much. This is unashamedly sexual and very insensey. Wet: The Resins move into dominance, with the patchouli and musk in strong support, with tobacco pulling up third, also in support. The pitch gives it some extra bite on top of the sexy, the vanilla and honey lend it a touch of sweetness, but this is all about the resins and not foodie at all. Dry: Resins and vanilla dominant, with musk, patchouli, and honey, in descending order of strength. Lasts ages while remaining complex.

Koito and Sashichi 2014 (Lupercalia, Shunga, Novel Ideas For Secret Amusements VII, LE): (Company says: Green tea, tobacco absolute, and agarwood.)

In bottle: Green Tea dominant with agarwood support and a touch of tobacco to give it a bit of sensuality. The tea and the wood play beautifully together, complimenting each other’s strengths. Wet: The tea and agarwood swim in and out of focus, with the tea staying dominant, continuing to perfectly compliment each other. The tobacco twines through, understated, but contributing. Dry: Lots of green tea, doing that thing green tea notes do as they start to break down, haunted by agarwood’s ghost.

Lovers in the Tea House 2014 (Lupercalia, Shunga, Novel Ideas For Secret Amusements VII, LE): (Company says: Sake and matcha tea with amber incense, golden sandalwood, and yōkan.)

In bottle: The sharpness of the matcha tea and the sweetness of yōkan go together beautifully. (Yōkan is a jellied bean paste dessert that comes in various flavors. I have had a melon version. I’m pretty sure I am correctly identifying this element, but there is room for error. Buyer beware). I’m calling it tea dominant, with yōkan second, and amber third. The sake grounds and the touch of sandalwood elevates. This has beautiful body and quite a bit of nuance, everything working together to make something sweet and bright and sticky. I like it, though I think I prefer some of the other green tea blends in this year’s Shunga offerings. Wet: Or maybe not. I really like this on my skin. Something in the way my skin responds to the yōkan makes it really special. The green tea stays dominant, but the yōkan really sings, the amber buoying it. The sake warms it, and the sandalwood stays understated. Dry: Lots of matcha with sandalwood support and the ghost of yōkan.

The Nun and the Courtly Lady 2014 (Lupercalia, Shunga, Novel Ideas For Secret Amusements VII, LE): (Company says: White sandalwood, Italian bergamot, Siamese benzoin, tobacco flower, and caramelized honey.)

In bottle: The dominant bergamot makes this smell like tea also, since bergamot is what make Earl Grey taste like that. The benzoin and tobacco flower are good support. The sandalwood is understated and plays well with others. The kiss of caramelized honey lends a faint air of decadence. Wet: It is now benzoin dominant with strong bergamot support, which makes it less tea like. The tobacco flower is more distinct, and the sandalwood a scooch more assertive. I really like this, it’s very directional, in a good way with all the parts working towards a single impression. Dry: Sandalwood.

Orgy with Nine Women 2014 (Lupercalia, Shunga, Novel Ideas For Secret Amusements VII, LE): (Company says: Champaca magnolia, bourbon vanilla, blonde tobacco, and white honey.)

In bottle: The strongest notes in first sniff are the Champaca magnolia and honey. The vanilla is strong support for the honey. The tobacco ties the stronger notes together nicely. Wet: This is really about the champaca. The tobacco is now in strong support of the champaca, with the honey and vanilla backing off rather, though keeping things smooth and sweet. This is another very directional scent with everything working towards a single impression. This is very blond and sitting in the shady part of the garden on a sunny afternoon. Dry: Classic perfume/cologne, sexy tobacco with some Champaca and vanilla.

Sweets to the Sweet 2014 (Lupercalia, Clive Barker’s the Forbidden, Century Guild, LE): (Company says: Sugar upon sugar, honey upon honey: white cane sugar and honey absolute.)

In bottle: I would swear there was anise in it, but I think it’s a figment of the place the honey and sugar combines. It’s pretty much what it says, honey and sugar cane. Wet: There is a hint of the floral about the honey and I think that’s what I was ready as anise, some accidental accord. The effect is simple and sweet and sticky, very spring, somehow. Could the floral element be orange blossom, because orange blossom honey is what it smells like. The soprano of the sugar twines beautifully with the alto of the honey with the floral grace notes floating through. Dry: Mostly sugar with a kiss of honey.

Thrice Toss These Oaken Ashes 2014 (Lupercalia, LE): (Company says: Apple peel and oak ash, briar thorns and pine ash, and cypress gathered at a dead man’s grave.).

In bottle: This is incredibly hard to describe. It does not help that I am not familiar with some of these component variations. The impression is of sharp apple peel over damp earth and ash with a mix of woods ringing it round. This is dark and wild and very thorny indeed. The briar and oak go beautifully together, supporting each other. The cypress sings with apple and earth. The pine is an accent, humming in the background. This suits it’s poem well. It is not an easy scent, nor a kind one. Wet: I like apples, normally, but the peel with the ashes may simply be too much for me. Normally I love the lab’s earth note, but with the apple and ash, they seem to amplify the shriller aspects of all three. I think I am in love with the way the briar dances with the dirt though, and given time to warm, the woods and soil take over and the more chemical and shrill elements burn off, the apple peel becoming a hint of sweet in what is otherwise unforgiving. Ten minutes in, I really like it even though it disturbs me. Unfortunately, it was at this point I began to itch and the rash started rising. Sometimes those we love hurt us, and this is uniquely suited to the concept of this blend, now I think on it. Dry: Cypress with a bit of dirt and briar.

Tweedledum Bonbon 2014 (Lupercalia, Box of Bonbons, LE): (Company says: Absurd! Green mango, fig, patchouli and green tea with white chocolate and white hazelnut cream.)

In bottle: I’m surprised this has no liquor. I think it’s an accidental accord with the white chocolate dominant in it, but it smells like whiskey to me. I’m having trouble parsing it back into the listed components. I love the way it smells to me, but that is likely no help to people with more standard sensoriums. So call it whiskey with a strong white chocolate component supported by hazelnut cream and hints of patchouli and fruit. Omnomnom! Wet: It still smells like whiskey, but I’m now reading the mango as the dominant element of the accidental accord. If I concentrate, I can now disentangle the listed components from the accidental accord. As it wears, the accord collapses and you get a strongly mango dominant scent, with green tea support, a hazelnut cream second with white chocolate support, over a canvass of fig, with hints of patchouli. I still like it and it still reminds me of whiskey. It is delightfully strange. Wet: Fast Fading, alas to a soft patchouli.

Who In the World Am I? 2014 (Lupercalia, Century Guild, LE): (Company says: Sheer vanilla, hinoki wood, lavender, bergamot, cotton blossom, and lightly spiced oriental blossoms.)

In bottle: Lavender dominant with strong vanilla and bergamot seconds. The flowers are delicate and complex, the wood soft and well blended with the other elements, helping the lavender bridge with the other flowers. I was not previously familiar with this wood, but there is only one thing it could be and it really suits the rest of the scent design. Wet: Still lavender dominant, but now the wood comes into it’s own. I’d now call it second, the canvass on which the various flowers dance. The vanilla is understated and with the wood helps tie things together. This is lovely, though there may be a touch too much bergamot for my taste. I really like the cotton blossoms here. This is fundamentally a lavender scent, but the unusual and delicate setting suits it. Dry: Lavender dominant florals.

Worm Moon 2014 (Lunacy, LE): (Company says: This is a melding of Victorian Grotesquery and springtime fecundity: mold-crusted dirt, decomposing organic matter, coffin wood, drooping funeral flowers, grave bricks, congealed blood, wreaths of laurel and boxwood, gloomy lunar oils, and cuckoo flower with something moist lurking underneath.

In bottle: Ooo! The Laurel is lovely! Call this one Laurel dominant with the other flowers as support. Damp dark soil freshly turned is second, with wood, stone, and the kiss of blood in support. This is a particularly floral worm Moon, but exquisite and well suited to its concept. Wet: Soil dominent on the skin, with the flowers fading into the background. This makes it less unusual, but also vastly better suited to being worn by me. I really do like the way the laurel and what I suspect might be the cuckoo flower play with the grave dirt and wood. I am well pleased. Dry: Soil with a touch of wood.



It was really hard to pick these this time, as so most of these are really good. The difference between Winner and runner up ended up being whether the scent smelled like it suited my personality vs. smelled interesting on me. If I could find anything to nitpick at all, I used that as an excuse to keep it out of the runners up. Some of the Shungas got bumped for being a little too similar. The list of losers would consist of the frimps I couldn’t skin test and Thrice Tossed, mostly because I’m allergic to it.

Winners: Neptune, Foolish and Vacuous, Geisha in a State of Rumpled Annoyance, Worm Moon 2014
Runners Up: Jupiter, Death Shall Come in with Thee, Diversions in the Chashitsu,

Comments

[tibicina.livejournal.com]

Is there anything you want me to pick up at the lunacy this coming weekend? (I believe they've extended the Lupercalias through then.

[gwyd.livejournal.com]

I'm good on Lupercalias. Thank you for asking though.