Lunaliquid

Ooooh! This is lovely. It reminds me of the old perfume Chloë, but much more sophisticated. A Chloë for the grown-up, accomplished woman who doesn't take BS from anybody. Slight incencey and fruity, but so well blended that it's very hard to pick out specific noted.

You'll have to pry this bottle out of my cold, dead hands, cuz this one is a keeper!

ETA: because the poster above me says it fades fast, it's quite the opposite with me. I've been wearing it for a few days now and can smell it faintly the next day even. Wow!

I am waiting for a cns for an order i placed on 05-10 (Strawberry Moon)

So am I (Strawberry Moon and a couple of Tikis placed on 5-10), but I'm not going to start bothering the Lab until sometime next week. I must confess that I worry just a tiny bit when I see people getting CnS's for orders placed 2 weeks later than mine.

ETA: I got a CnS later that day. WooHoo!!!!

I got this one on a whim, thinking it wouldn't work on me and I could send it on to my Switch Witchee. Plum rarely works on me, and burgundy wine turns to rotting grapes in my experience.

Bottle arrived yesterday and the introductory sniff made me pretty convinced that Makhanitis would be moving on, but then this morning I made the big mistake of skin testing it.

Back off, withchee!!! This here lady is MINE!!!

Champaca and sandalwood, 2 of my favorite notes, are very much in the foreground with fruity middle and top note. I could have sworn Lady Makhanitis had been gnawing on a pomegranate before she took up residence in this bottle, because that's what I get.

Oh, and this girl is S-T-R-O-N-G! One tiny little drop goes very far.

Love, love, love in a bottle.

The Lady hath spoken; she has put her galoches on, toured the ranch and decided to stay. She will roll up her sleeves and devise a plan to rock my world. What can I do but obey?

The Ifrit - how I love Thee!!!

Got to sniff a bottle at a M&S but was too shy to ask for a skin test. It smelled so good that I just had to order a bottle even though it contains notes that usually don't work on me at all (pepper, ginger, and especially cinnamon). Based on the note description The Ifrit and I would have been ships passing in the night for all eternity.

I'm thinking back 13 years. I'd been with my boyfriend for a couple of months and we decided to take a trip together to find out just how compatible we were. Off we went to trek through Morocco for a month. We rented a Renault 4 and headed for the northern part of the Sahara desert. The area is so desolate that we had to check in at guard posts along the way (complete with the wonderful tea ceremony) so they would know if our car broke down somewhere and come to our rescue.

The Ifrit brings back memories of sleeping on the roof of a boarding house in the middle of nowhere under a full moon and millions of stars. It takes me back to a small oasis called Tata where we got invited inside for a traditional meal by a regular family, just because we walked past their house. It reminds me of scorching sand under the hot sun and the intriguing smells of a caravan. And finally, it makes me smile because this vacation was the perfect start to my wonderful marriage to my husband.

Beth; thank you for creating this olfactory journey down memory lane!

I'm posting this hoping that someone in the know might be able to shed some light on something that popped up today.

Back in December of 2007 I ordered a couple of bottles from Dark Delicacies. One of them was The Pit & the Pendulum. As it turned out, I didn't really care for the blend, so when I had the opportunity to swap it away I leapt at the chance. However, the recipient just PM'ed me today that the bottle she received is nothing like she expected (i.e. totally different from the original version).

Was the formulation changed at some point? I had tested it twice, cleanly, and the bottle was stored in a cool and dark place in a smoke-free home. I went to the review site and couldn't find any mentioning of a difference in formulation.

Luckily my swap partner is being very nice about it, but I still feel really bad. Since I haven't smelled the original version (honestly, I didn't even know there was a previous version, so it didn't even come up in our conversation), I can't tell if the difference is due to a different formulation or if my bottle was mis-labeled.

TIA

~ Luna

I'm going wild for the Wilde!

Apparently I really love what's considered male type fragrances on my skin. I received a frimp from the Lab in my latest shipment, and I'm sold on it.

In the imp I smell a slight and mellow citrus, but once it touches my skin it amps up and becomes a lovely bright and shiny floral citrus, quite heavy on the top notes.

On drydown I smell a hint of patchouli, but not in a smack-in-your-nostrils kind of patchouli way. It deepens the blend, grounds it.

Wilde has some serious staying power, which is how I love my perfume.

This will definitely be a bottle purchase for me with my next order. Thanks Labbies, for picking out the perfect scent for me!

Oh wow! The Robotic Scarab was a "fill up the imp pack pick" based on the notes listed, and I fully anticipated it heading to the swaps pile as soon as I got it. I couldn't have been more wrong!

I love the smell of leather, but I like my leather to be on a sweaty horse and not on my skin, thankyouverymuch. However, this time the leather behaves beautifully on me. It stays close to my skin and is enveloped in a warm glow of frankincense and star anise. The top note smells like a very expensive perfume - if that's the polished metallic notes, I want more. I've been avoiding anything with metallic notes just from the description, but I think I need to rethink that phobia.

All in all an excellent blend, absolutely bottle worthy, and a total surprise!

I can't wait to dab this one on right before I go to the gym today. I have an uncontrollable urge to smell like a sweaty horse..... (just hope the other patrons won't mind too much)

Oh, this is made of WIN!

In the bottle

Reminds me somewhat of a cough syrup I took as a child. Now that I'm starting to learn how to pick out certain notes, I definitely smell the red musk (which I adore), and a fruity top note.

Wet

Fruit is still in the foreground, with the red musk anchoring the scent while vetiver remains shy and barely noticeable. I can barely detect the tea (it is definitely not as prominent as in Theodosius), but the lavender rears it's head unfortunately.

Dry

Oh wow! This mellows down into a lovely mixture of fruit and red musk, with tea and smoky tobacco. Vetiver and lavender have completely vanished and I'm pleased. The smokiness reminds me to some degree of Black Lace although the scents are nothing alike. Like previous posters have said; it is not a very persistent scent that hangs around the whole day, I have to reapply after 4 hours or so, but I don't mind reacquainting myself with this one over and over again. Definitely worth hoarding. I'll stock up on this one before it disappears. YUM!

In the bottle

Wowza!!! As previously mentioned by many; this is vanilla frosting in a bottle. Nothing more, nothing less.

Wet

Oh no, plastic. Say it ain't so!

Dry

Thank the goddesses, this dries down to become the most gorgeous, well-rounded, and simply put ravishing of scents. It's very much like a more subdued version of Black Lace on me, complete with the smoky and boozy elements of Black Lace. WIN!

In the bottle

Hello Jasmine! It's pretty much pure jasmine to my nose. I happen to like jasmine, so it's all good.

Wet

Oh my! One of my cats used to pee on my old stove. It was hard to see when she had done it, and it happened more times than I care to remember that I would turn the stove on and my house would fill with "eau de burnt cat pee". The Presence of Love goes through a brief stage reminiscent of those good old days.

Dry

Gone are the memories of feline body fluids burnt to a crisp. Jasmine forms the base, but Rose has made her appearance along with her little sister Grapefruit, who remains very close to the skin. It has become one of my favorite Lupercalia's so far.

Edited to remove funky triple posting.......

PEACOCK QUEEN 2007

In the bottle

Smells like a pure rose, sans stems, leaves and thorns.

Wet

Where Rose Red was all things rose (stems, leaves, and thorns), Peacock Queen is limited to the petals. I picture myself stomping in a big vat of rose petals as if I'm about to make rose wine.

Dry

This stays pure rose petal, no addition of greenery (as in Rose Red) or coconut/pine (as in Snow White). The scent stays pretty much the same from wet to dry phase.

Verdict

Delicious. I feel like I've just been tumbling about in a big vat of expensive roses. These are the petals of dark, almost black long stemmed roses. Peacock Queen should actually have been released as part of the Lupercalia catalog due to the wonderful romantic aspect of the scent. This is what my house would smell like if my husband would remember Valentine's Day. Le Sigh.......

SNOW WHITE 2007

In the bottle

Faint rose, VERY faint. Nothing else.

Wet

Still very faint rose, but now I smell a little fresh coconut meat as well.

Dry

The drydown is the most interesting phase. I get the faint whiff of roses bygone, but up pops a smidgen of pine resin, as if I've just brushed a pine tree and gotten some sticky sap on my wrist. The funny thing is that I would expect this to cause the scent to become cold and distant, but it becomes a nice, warm comforting scent. I want to snuggle up on the couch in my favorite oversized woolen sweater and huff my wrist for the rest of the day.

Verdict

Very nice. If it wouldn't be a travesty to do so, I would love to transform this scent to a dryer sheet and make all my warm, snuggly clothes smell like this.

ROSE RED 2007

Bottle

Sharp, tangy, almost peppery rose.

Wet

Oh wow! A very true rose, full of thorns, stems, and leaves. It is as if a herd of elk broke into my greenhouse and trampled the roses and I'm stuck cleaning up the damage while crying bitterly over all the beauty lost.

Dry

More of the above, but now it seems the elk trampled my lemon geraniums as well. There is a soft whisper of slight peppery lemon (a scent which I associate with rubbing the leaves of my lemon scented geranium plants). Absolutely fabulous!

Verdict

Love it, love it, love it! It is the perfect scent for me when I want to feel like summer in my garden while the world outside is perpetually frozen in ice. It gives me the promise that yes, this winter shall pass, and soon it will be just a fleeting memory. Brava!

Oh Angeronalia, my love! This is what I want to smell like when I'm feeling joyous and carefree. I received this bottle from the lab, and while I had placed the order, the husbeast had snagged the package, wrapped it and put it under the tree. It took a while for me to try it on. One day I put Angeronalia on one wrist and a dab of a newly received imp of Snow Moon on the other, only I forgot which I put where. Standing in line I kept sniffing my own wrist, reveling in the lovely smell surrounding me, much to the amusement of other post office patrons. I was convinced the lovely smell must be the Snow Moon of which I only had a small imp, but HOORAY!!! it turned out to be Angeronalia.

In the bottle:

Very faint, reminiscent of a lovely bouquet of sweet pea flowers.

Wet Stage:

Smells like a large bouquet of spring flowers. It is a very white, elevated scent, with a hint of citrus. I get absolutely no hint of patchouli (I happen to like patchouli, btw).

Dry Stage:

This one doesn't morph much on me. It keeps that wonderful spring-like flowery quality, it stays strong and lasts for about 4 hours. I'm a dabber, not a slatherer.

Just placed an order last night for 2 more bottles, and have another imp coming from a forum purchase.

5 out of 5! I'm usually a more earthy type of person (Lucifer, Scherezade, Snake Oil, Voodoo, etc.) so this is truly a surprise.

~ Lunaliquid

Received a bottle directly from the lab yesterday.

In the bottle:

VERY nice! Reminds me a tad of a Jolly Rancher watermelon candy.

Wet Stage:

I still get the Jolly Rancher bit, but now with a slight waft of the scent of an oil lamp in the distance (am I making any sense? Probably not.)

Dry Stage:

Where did it go? Seriously, it's gone within 10 minutes. If it had stayed around longer I definitely would have gotten more bottles, but alas, this shall remain one for the scent locket.

~ Lunaliquid

I received my bottle of La Befana yesterday, and have now learned a painful lesson; go with my gut feeling and not order something I'm not reasonably sure will work on my skin. The Candy Charcoal and Chimney Dust sounded very intriguing and also very uncertain as to what it would smell like.

Turns out, this scent does not work on me at all. In the bottle, it is actually a quite pleasant caramel smell, but wet on my skin it becomes cloyingly sweet. Dry, it becomes very pungent, reminiscent of holiday sweets 2 months past their shelf life. The throw is very strong and it hangs around FOREVER.

Needless to say, this bottle will be going to someone who can appreciate it better than I can.

~ Lunaliquid

Hello, my name is Lunaliquid, and I'm a BPAL Addict. I've been an addict for 2 months.

This is my first review! I wanted to save my first review for a drop-dead-gorgeous scent, and so Hello, Lucifer! My nose is not yet educated enough to pick out many individual notes, but we all have to start somewhere, right?

I got my first imp of the Lucifer from Lorajc on this forum.

In the Imp:

Dark, red colored liquid. Not very prominent smell, but I detect a distant sharp "tang" of acrid woods. Hesitated applying this to my wrist because I frankly didn't like it.

Wet Phase:

Slight yellow discoloration of my skin where applied. The acrid woods come to the foreground, while the patchouli joins the dance. I don't know exactly what vetiver is supposed to smell like, so I can't comment on that component.

Initial Drydown:

The patchouli mellows down, the woods turn deep and sweet, and the amber and fig come out to play. This becomes a nice, rounded scent, with great depth, full of mysteries. I could get lost in this.

Final Drydown:

Oh wow! Lucifer is definitely not doing the Polonaise; rather, he is doing a most magnificent Waltz across my wrist. He is elegant and sophisticated, and quite tempered. The patchouli keeps itself nicely in the corner, watching the festivities on the dance floor. Amber and fig gets to party, while the woods are behaving most charmingly. Yellow discoloration has disappeared.

Verdict:

BRAVA!!!!

5/5 Must. Have. More!!!! Placed an order with Shelldoo for 3 bottles of the yummy. Can't wait for it to arrive so I can slather myself. Throw is medium, and I need to re-apply after about 2 hours.

~ Lunaliquid

Edited to fix stupid typo.......