iiinterstate

Profoundly sensual indeed. This is my favorite of the Lupers so far.

Body, Remember starts out sweet and earthy, then suddenly it becomes heavy on the coconut, followed by a rush of champaca. After several minutes, everything settles into a perfect musky balance that stays close to my skin with no single dominating note. It's stunning.

At first, Entangled is all sharp kudzu with the occasional hint of sweetness that I assume is the honey. After a few minutes, the spicy ginger comes through and neutralizes the kudzu a bit. It dries down into a very fresh, cool scent, with very little of the initial greenness. I don't get much more of the honey, but think it's there as a subtle grounding note. At first I didn't care for it, but I can't seem to stop sniffing my wrist now. The longer I have Entangled on, the more I like it. I'd like to see how it smells on my boyfriend as well.

On me, The Vine smells like sweet ripe pears. YUM. The vanilla cream comes out as it dries and sweetens the pear note a bit further. I like the simplicity of this blend. It's not overly foody or fruity and it will be a fun scent for the warmer months.

Its been forever since I ordered from the Lab, and even longer since I ordered a Lunacy blend, but I'm very very glad I picked up Blackbear Moon.

 

It starts off heavy on the hazelnut, but I detect the honey and black cherry as well. After about half an hour it's dried down into a warm, undeniably furry scent. Somehow, the hazelnut and honey dominate this without being too sweet. I get occasional wafts of the berries and cherry, but overall it's difficult to pick out the individual notes. I love this blend a lot, and it will likely find its way into my regular rotation.

 

(If you're not a fan of hazelnut, you might want to skip this one.)

Not quite sure how I feel about Gnome yet. I love the fizzy ginger, but the metallic note is a little odd on me. I feel like it's more interesting than it is wearable. Perhaps I'll try layering it with something else.

Honestly, Yellow Snowballs reminds me a lot of Snow Angel, which was one of my very favorites! The primary difference (to my nose) is that the tea note in SA is replaced by mint in YS. I get sugared citrus fruit from both blends. Yum!

HELLO spice. Initially this is alllll cardamom on me. I'm surprised, because this smelled so boozy in the bottle.

 

After about 15-20 minutes, the leather starts to come through and the bourbon sweetens things up. I don't get any patch at all. It's perfectly balanced and delicious! I imagine Spanked will become one of the blends I wear frequently, and I'm going to need another couple of bottles as I'm sure it will age fabulously.

 

 

edit: I've decided the bourbon in this blend behaves much the same as it does in Hellhound On My Trail (on me). However, I like Spanked a bit better.

I never got a chance to try Glowing Vulva in its perfume oil form, which is a shame. I love the bath oil! I don't get any lotus at all, but cream, teak, and amber in abundance. It reminds me a bit of the Antikythera Mechanism (one of my absolute favorites) only very creamy and soft. I think I'll need at least one more bottle before this goes away.

I can see where some people might get cotton candy musk from this, but for me Celeste is much less foody. To me, this smells like Antique Lace with saffron instead of linen. To be honest, I don't love it.

 

After about 20 minutes, it's a lot more of the vanilla musk that I was hoping for, but very very light. I like it, but I hope the vanilla strengthens with age.

 

 

Edit: Okay, it's been an hour, and I am liking Celeste a lot more. The floral-ness has burned off, and it's way more musky and delicious. There is potential for gloriousness here.

This starts out as a whole lot of caramel which I am not excited about, but dries down into a nice spicy tobacco. There's something a little woody in there too. I like it. I think in a few months I'll like it a lot more.

I ordered this with mild reservation, because I believe peru balsam has gone weird on me in the past. Also, I tested straight out of the mailbox because I am impatient.

 

In the bottle it smells like ginger and leather.

On me it starts out much the same, then orange blossom amps up quite a bit. Very bright.

 

As it dries down, I get a little more ginger, little bit of beeswax, but its still primarily orange blossom. I was honestly expecting a vanilla base to this, so here's hoping.

 

After about 30 minutes: still primarily orange blossom and a hint of ginger. I'm not really impressed at this point, but I'm sure Burning Vulva will mellow a bit with age (hopefully into something more interesting!). There's a lot of great notes in here, so I'm going to hang on to it and see what happens in a month or so.

I rather like Bat of Good Death, even though it is not nearly as heavy as I expected.

 

Very light, almost no cedar. It smells like a lighter, herbal version of Goblin...coconut and wood with a hint of herbiness in the background. After aging, I think it lasts a bit longer than it did originally. This is a good scent for school or the workplace when I want to smell lovely but not intrude on anyone else's senses.

In the bottle: dusty fruit and cotton.

 

On me: changes rapidly. First I get that grape-y scent other reviewers mentioned, but it fades quickly leaving mostly a creamy vanilla. I have a hard time picking out the individual notes. So far, it reminds me a LOT of L'Estate and not of Mme. Moriarty at all.

 

After a few minutes: Things are pretty much the same, but now I'm getting a little tobacco smokiness and a hint of pom. It's just lovely.

 

A few MORE minutes: Man, what a morpher. Red Lace seems to bloom in layers on my skin. Now there is a bit of sandalwood in the mix.

 

Overall? Red Lace is gorgeous. I can't wait to see how it ages.

I wanted to like Black Opal, I really did. It sounded like it would be a gorgeous blend on me and for about a minute, it was. However, this dries down into powdery blah-ness. No vanilla or geological fantasticness, just vague sweetness that I don't care for. (Regardless, I keep my imp and try it every six months or so because I keep hoping.)

In the bottle: Leatherrrrrrr. Yum.

 

On me: Oh man, this is good already. I can pick out the olive oil, but it doesn't go cloying on me like it did in Hanerot Halalu. After a few moments the wood comes out and blends smoooothly with the leather.

 

After awhile: Leather is definitely the primary note in here, and its great. I'd say this blend is gender neutral and FABULOUS. I generally like the lab's leather note even more after it has had some time to settle, so I'll probably be buying another bottle of this to age. This might knock Western Diamondback into second place on my list favorite leather blends <img src="http://www.bpal.org/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/magtongue.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="magtongue.gif" />

 

 

Edit: I haven't used this in awhile, and thought I'd try it out again before deciding whether I need to purchase the 2011 version. I say yes. This stuff ages like a dream.

 

son of edit: I meant to edit my old review but I guess I made a second one instead? Sorry mods!

I was so close to selling this off because it didn't work on me when it was fresh.

 

When I tested it today, it started off predominately chocolate, which I don't really like. Too cloying. But within ten minutes it had become dark and smoky and sexy. Its the chocolate blend for people who don't like chocolate.

In the bottle: Very faint berries, something herbal, and milk.

 

Wet on me: Milk and berries and with a hint of ozone. It sounds like an odd combination, but I like it a lot already.

 

After a few minutes: I don't usually like milky blends for some reason. They never go sour, but I always feel like they might. I reaaallly like this though. I think the ozone keeps the other ingredients from being too cloying but without being all HEY I AM FULL OF OZONE.

 

Later: Candles Moon fades pretty fast, but I think once I let it rest awhile it might stick around more. The drydown smells much warmer to me. I don't get much beeswax...or at least I don't get anything resembling honey that usually comes with the beeswax note. Primarily berries and warm spices in milk.

 

 

Edit: An hour and a half has passed and I just got a big ol' waft of blackberry. Not so faint anymore! I really like this, glad I got a backup.

Okay. I tried Smut at a MnS awhile back and for some reason I just plain hated it. But for some reason I felt compelled to try it again, and snagged a bottle from 2008.

 

In the bottle: Really boozy.

 

On me: Still boozy, but not in a bad way. The musk that seemed out of control the first time I tried Smut is definitely tamer than I remember, or maybe two years of aging just does that. This is a super sexy, sugary, delicious skin scent, and if the 2010 version is the same, I'll need to stock up. I want to wear this a LOT.

 

 

Edit: the longer I wear this the better it gets. LOVE. I'm gonna slather the hell out of this tomorrow.

This is good stuff.

I get the same feeling from this as I do from Snake Charmer. Sexy, heavy musk with sweeter top notes. I get the honey most of all, and its HOT.

 

I'm sort of at a loss with this description, because everything blends so well. I need a backup because I'll bet anything that aged Anactoria is simply orgasmic.

In the bottle: This smells a little masculine. I think its the sandalwood.

 

On me: Happily, I get a lot more of the other notes upon application. Something about the nutmeg makes this more gender neutral. I can pick out the benzoin and tonka too, but this is waaaay lighter than I anticipated.

 

After awhile: Still very faint. Weird, because usually I get a lot of wear out of these notes. I'll come back to it after it has had some time to settle. My overall impression is positive though. Just wimpy.

In the bottle: Leatherrrrrrr. Yum.

 

On me: Oh man, this is good already. I can pick out the olive oil, but it doesn't go cloying on me like it did in Hanerot Halalu. After a few moments the wood comes out and blends smoooothly with the leather.

 

After awhile: Leather is definitely the primary note in here, and its great. I'd say this blend is gender neutral and FABULOUS. I generally like the lab's leather note even more after it has had some time to settle, so I'll probably be buying another bottle of this to age. This might knock Western Diamondback into second place on my list favorite leather blends

This is one of the Lupercalia blends I'm most excited about.

 

In the bottle: Incense with a flash of metal.

 

On me: More incense gives way to the lab's stone note (which I love). I don't get much metal while its wet. I like this so far... I haven't smelled anything like it before.

 

After awhile: This stays pretty consistent. A good balance of stone and incense. I get more incense in the throw than when I am sniffing my wrist.

 

 

Verdict? A keeper. Not sure how often I will wear it, but this is an intriguing blend.

I ordered this expecting the ultimate carnation blend but I think I just confirmed that almond does not work on me at all, ever.

 

All I smell is the almond, just like in Queen of Sheba. And it isn't good. Too bad.

I bought this on a whim to accompany my bottle of Black Lace.

 

First impression: very very green, with a little musk.

 

After a few minutes: I'm getting the chrome note now, and maybe a little bit of leather too.

 

Hmm.. something about this is not right for me. I'm thinking it might be the skin musk, which is hit or miss on me. It smells green and a little sour.. not for me.

I can't believe I haven't reviewed this one already.

 

When I first got the bottle it was a little too smoky-smelling for me. The incense and licorice ended up coming off like charcoal. However, after letting it rest for a little while, this blend is mostly coconut and rum to me. Very smooth and delicious, with a little extra kick from the licorice and an occasional waft of incense. I like it a lot more than I expected to.

 

I loooove coconut, and Obatala is one of my default blends, especially in summer. Deathly Pride is like a darker Obatala on my skin. Yum.