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Lycanthrope

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About Lycanthrope

  • Rank
    1/32 too few
  • Birthday 08/15/1982

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    Chicago, IL
  • Country
    United States

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Profile Information

  • Pronouns
    Male
  • Interests
    Medicine/Dermatology, skincare, fragrance, pottery, art, Greek/Greece, violin, animation<br /><br />Product Junkie of: LUSH, Nippon Kodo, Shoyeido, BPAL, Aveda, Bath and Body Works, Villainess Soap
  • Mood
    squeeable

BPAL

  • Favorite Scents
    Carnation Violet Red Musk Leather Amber / Resins Ozone Marine Rain Mint Pine

Astrology

  • Astrological Info
    Moody, Loopy Leo.
  • Chinese Zodiac Sign
    Dog
  • Western Zodiac Sign
    Leo

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  1. Lycanthrope

    Bouquet De Violettes

    Violet wolf checking in. Sniff from the bottle, a sharper, slightly green and gritty mist over a subtle violet. Fresh on skin, quite sharp, getting a lot of initial ambergris, some sweetness from the opium segueing into a resinous mossy green, I think maybe a hiiiiint of coconut. Right now I can't find the violet, oh no! It's reading very much as a somewhat sharper aquatic misty ambergris musk. There's a shadow of patchouli lurking in the background. Coconut and orris is giving it a bit of a Black Pearl vibe. On for about an hour... ok, there's a bit of violet base now, but like the painting, I think this scent is more about the ethereal, airy white gauziness of the dress and the violets are a complement, not the main focus. It's quieted down a bit so that most of what I can smell is a bit of powdery violet petal, with a planty, leafy moss-musk. It's a very interesting blend of scents. I think from afar I get whiffs of pure violet but just like the ionones do, the petals peek into and out of presence, hiding in the folds of the misty white of the dress and the shadowy gritty dark of the patchouli/oakmoss. It's definitely unique! I would say: if you love violets, and are expecting them, they are here but not front and forwards. If you usually dislike violets, this won't whomp you on the head with them, and may be a more tolerable experience of them. It's a very beautiful interpretation of the painting.
  2. Lycanthrope

    Blue Silk Rose

    I really love the concept of this scent! Alas, it is perhaps one of the least rosey Rose scents from BPAL that I own, and it is a bit cacophonous and chaotic. Overall, it reads as a fruity tropical floral, which may be totally up someone's alley - it's not quite the type of scent I wear or reach for often (the fruits - I'm a tropical floral wolf for sure) Whiff from the bottle and immediately on is a very sweet blackberry, primarily, on the skin and for the first few moments it's really orchid forward, with a smidge of sweet opium-like smoke, but not very much of that lingers or remains. As a violet lover I was really hoping for that to be up center, but I can't really detect that. It must be, like the rose and blue musk, sort of lending an undercurrent of sweet - but I think the blackberry and orchid really steal the show here. Even with more time, I can't get much more than a very well blended and chewy blackberry scent, with a floral backdrop, but not a classic rose at all. I'll still keep and reach for this here and there, the bottle and concept are wonderful, a bit of a miss on this violet and blue musk lover.
  3. Lycanthrope

    Lick it, Valentine

    A whisper of the vanilla mint, and on me, the honeyed sugar and strawberries brings to mind Pink Moons of yore with a smidge of chilly snow. It's pretty much perfect and a great transition scent balancing Yule and Lupers! On me the red wine comes out more and more as times passes, to lend a bit of Athens-like goopiness to the whole blend. I could have swore this had rose in it but maybe it's my mind inventing florals when I think 'Valentine!'
  4. Lycanthrope

    Kon Kurabe Tama No Ase

    For me, foody to start with the buttercream but veers straight into cinnamon and clove territory, and slight pistachio nutmeat in the dry down. Very excellent if you’re a spice gourmand lover.
  5. Lycanthrope

    Evening Rendezvous

    If you missed out on Stealthily, Stealthily, this feels a very similar type of fragrance. It reads as a well blended misty and puffy purple scent, a bit powdery from the orris, and some sweetness from the violet. I think it has more of a honeyed aroma and a smidge salty from the ambergris. I like it bunches.
  6. Lycanthrope

    Fenris Blargh

    I'm really not sure what's that different, except this is definitely more black musky than the usual red musk. Less woodsy, that I can tell, it has a bit of spice. Maybe cinnamon?
  7. Lycanthrope

    Clown Footstool

    Ok, this is weird. It's definitely an interesting, teeter-totter mix of foodie and floral, but also kind of... woodsy? Initially I get a ton of frosting like buttercream, and the sandalwood supports this with a bit of chewy smokiness. The main floral I'm getting is actually the gardenia. There are sparks of Sugar Skull's sugar throughout, and then gardenia makes the floral more sassy. The tropical floral background is not overpowering and it adds a floof, like tutus, but overall this remains mostly a lightly floral foody vanilla buttercream. It's very interesting, I don't think I need more than one bottle, but I'll see how this ages. It's definitely quite unique.
  8. Lycanthrope

    Tahitian Landscape

    Ever since the Tiki Lounge scents, there has always been a soft spot in my heart and hole in my wallet for tropical and coconut scents. I'm one of those guys who likes the idea of summer rather than actually sitting in it, so tropical florals mixed with pineapple, coconut, anything that elicits the concept of summer and the Tropics is a call to me. Cold sniff from the bottle, it's a mix of a warm coconut meat, not husky, and mostly awapuhi (ginger lily/maybe the red torch ginger?), with a smidge of Alba botanical's Gardenia shampoo (a staple of mine). It's a bit more foody at this point, like the coconut meat is strong and forward. It settles pretty quick though as the palm fronds come through as a slight grassiness, but also a bit of a... green plant-yness (yes I know, that's not a word), but this is reminding a lot of 'Under the Palms' from Yankee Candle, which featured a very fine coconut kissed with greenery, with a slight rubbery sappiness that elicited a realistic aroma. At this point most of the florals I am getting are subtle, but well blended. I get hints of watery freesia, the frangipani isn't too high pitched, and the usual flashy florals like gardenia and plumeria aren't dominating the scent. It really is, like the painting, a zoomed out scent of the landscape as opposed to focusing on the individual parts. I suppose still the torch ginger is more flower than spice, though overall this is a warm, well blended tropical floral green. Meaty foody coconut has definitely receded this far in on wear and it is quite nice and not overbearing. Thumbs up and definitely a try for anyone who likes a wearable tropical floral that is more on the subdued and conceptual side.
  9. Lycanthrope

    Vanilla Cream, Pistachio, and Macadamia

    Aw man, ever since turning forty, my frequency of Menage a Troising has declined precipitously. That being said, every now and then, this old, grizzled, gray furred wolf stirs and gets intrigued by the skimpy underpinnings of a delectable and promising trio, so when he, bleary eyed and without a budget, stumbled upon this combo, he was 'huzzah!' and 'stir forth my loins,' as well as 'maybe I'll have ramen this week!' to get this into his paws. From the bottle sniff, it's an interesting, very pistachio-forward nut smell, with just a bit of that vanilla butteryness. I detect no macadamia... yet. This is that moment when you've opened that door and your Grindr trio for the night appears. Trepidation and definitely a lot of 'not what I was expecting' is the name of the game... as I slather a smear on my back of my hand, it mysteriously smells extremely strong of... butterscotch? But just for a moment, maybe that's pistachio as he ruffles vanilla's hair a bit. Macadamia is down the hall, complaining that there's too many stairs and 'is this guy worth it?' The butterscotch, odd sharpness, fades, and I think there's maybe the smell of a leaf or some kind of greenery. Maybe pistachio nutmeats. Nutmeats. Heh. Oh wait, macadamia stumbles into view. I don't usually encounter macadamia, it's just rare, or maybe I'm just not normally macadamia's type. At this point it's mostly pistachio and macadamia leaning forwards, the macadamia leaving a sort of... toastiness... aura around him as he sidles up close. For me, maybe too close? I am reminded of a very distant memory of that One Christmas Everyone Gave Us Mauna Loa Macadamia Clusters But We Were Too Kind to Not Eat Them For Weeks Afterwards, wherein my childhood was schmears of milk chocolate and pieces of macadamia lodged in my back molars, desperately trying to dislodge the creamy triangles, but instead only amplifying the nutmeats swirling in my mouth. ... nutmeats. ... heh. On me, fairly quickly, the two nuts become pretty indistinguishable and vanilla remembers he left ... something... in his car, and has to go. No! Don't go! You're the basic bro I wanted in the first place! Pistachio looks a bit irritated and resigns himself to just, I guess, putting his hand on my shoulder, while Macadamia leans his bony thigh a bit too sharply onto my crotch. Ow, bro! Bruh! My nutmeats! (heh) This has pretty low throw on me and very modest sillage, which I guess is good, since when I'm done, Mr. Nosy Rosey McPeekison has her apartment door cracked wondering what all the hubbub is, but by then, all the guys are gone. Certainly if you like the smell of nutmeats, fire up this baby, but it's nuttier and less creamy on me than I thought. And all I really wanted was vanilla playtime, hah hah. Oh, Grindr.
  10. Lycanthrope

    Crane Moon 2022

    This is a bit of a marvel. It's been a while since I've reviewed a scent, but here goes: I was so very intrigued by the description for Crane Moon that I immediately bought two bottles, and I don't regret that I did. Wet, it has that same type of 'wing and feather' feel that is present in things like The Raven and in particular Crow Moon, but whereas the other two veer a bit more towards dark violet/floral and definitely the darker, shadowy side of things, Crane Moon starts off with that same sweet feathery medium/high tone. I can feel the slight dry, bitter cedar and cardamom floating above the sweet vanilla/sandalwood combination, which is what I think is the similar feather-scent in the other birdy scents. On my skin, the cedar and cardamom continue to dance a bit and give this potentially sweet scent some balanced depth without being overtly spicy. The orris root dusts things up a bit, kind of like how I'd imagine a cascade of white feathers would smell if they were falling around me. I can definitely see that if a crane was mostly white with a few accents of black on wing tips, that the dry woods, dry spice, dry root give it a shadowy side without going full raven (that's so?). I am not getting too much direct ambergris, but I think it's giving a smidgeon of aquatic feel, like the water the Crane is standing in. As I wear this, the cocoa emerges here and there as a dry tickle that again grounds the whole scent and balances it. There's plenty going on in this scent but overall it has a similar feel to other avian aromas but with a bit more dryness probably from the cedar and cardamom combo, kissed with a bit of dry cocoa powder (not chocolate!). Very wearable and I think a great evening scent.
  11. Lycanthrope

    Thirteen (13): May 2022

    Well, this is definitely a bit of a detour from the usual 13s, which to me have generally read like a spicy melange of dark dusty cocoa, punctuated with like spicy bits and cinnamon, allspice, and the like. Like a swarthy cocoa and maybe some tobacco like tones. This is... well. On me, it's definitely honey forward but lapping at the back is a maple type of snap. I amp rose, so oddly, the rose comes up but not super strong (a surprise for me) but I can pull the petal out in the mid notes. I get a lot of the caramel like notes which are a bit of a crisp and burnt sugar. Swirling in and out is a rock crystal like note. I think I'm hallucinating? A bit further away from application and with my nose snorfling higher up, I swear I have a bit of that Pfefferneusse powdery sugar tone, but then the rose rises a bit and is now mixed with cocoa (but less than past 13s, I feel). It dries down on me to, oddly, a honey bear's head encrusted with white sugar. This is actually kind of what I wanted Sugar Skull to do on my skin!
  12. Lycanthrope

    Vase de Lilas a la Fenetre

    I can't add much to the above. This is a strong, very flower forward lilac, with enough greenery to smell like the leaves and the twiggy twigs (yes that's an official biologist term dammit) so it has some true plantiness (also a term). If you were a bit concerned it would have a lot of the glassy and amber notes like House of Mirrors or the like, it does not. I really like it. I also own a metric boat-ton (not a real term) of lilac scented things so I'm good to not hoard. I do prefer my lilac shaken and stirred with other things, but if you like lilacs, this is a definite winner. Plantiness of the twiggy twigs.
  13. Lycanthrope

    A Chocolate Cat

    Super desserty and syrupy-liquor sweet in the bottle. It definitely has a bit of a claw to it initially! On my skin, it goes towards smoky notes real fast, the toasted/caramel to the forefront, but in the scorched sugar way. There is cocoa and it's a bittersweet dark cocoa note. I do like the vetiver adding a sort of ... rooty dustiness to the whole feel, whereas the amber and musk give it a prowly tone. It's kind of like... a cocoa-dappled and incense bathed Bastet? It really smells like huffing a box of Hershey's Cocoa, with like, honeyed nuts or the idea of them in the background as it dries down which is pretty fascinating.
  14. Lycanthrope

    Violet Fog

    I feel like as one of the resident violet lovers, I have to review this! Just got it today. Wet it smells like one of my holy grails, Stealthily, Stealthily, and a few of the notes are similar (orris/iris, violet, lavender) with the addition of sandalwood and champaca. It smells very, very similar initially but on drying down, the champaca brightens it with a bit of an interesting bubbly tropical floral tone. If there is sandalwood it's quite subtle and a bit on the dry side. It smells a bit like the smoky, hazy purple entwined notes of Stealthily but with a nag champa incense stick lit in the distant corner of the room. I do like this, but I also have a lot of Stealthily, so I may just enjoy the single bottle (un-stealthily adds 17 to virtual cart)
  15. Lycanthrope

    A Night In the French Quarter

    Aw man. There's always one blend that catches me by description, and likely the one with violet... this is definitely sweet, deep blue-violet, and sultry. I would call this a bit like The Stranger but a smidge fruitier (the plum is quite juicy in this), but also like a mix of night flowers and incense. The wetness / petrichor is not a blazingly wet rain note, but perhaps there's a very subtle kiss of a dirt or dust note, definitely not super forward, but this grounds it a bit into evocative rather than lush night garden. Again top wet, this is vacillating between plum and sweet violet petals, which I am totally ok with, in the end the plum seems to dominate, and the osmanthus lends a bit of a fleshy sweet citrus-like floral note, I think the lavender is present but very subtle, adding that kind of subtle, roof of the nose tickling aura that it can do, without dominating or making the blend herbal (at all). Again the petrichor is just a glaze of wet slick, not oily or excessively marine. There's some incense swirling in the background, maybe from churches or rituals, but it's far in the distance. What is in the forefront is a sweet, smooth, violet-plum aura with a touch of relaxing lavender buzz. I like this a lot. It reminds me a smidge of Stealthily, Stealthily but deffo fruitier and a bit smokier.
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