Incendiare

Judging by the notes, I thought this one would be a glorious win. In the vial, it kind of takes me by surprise. There's an awkward musky note in the vial that doesn't agree with me. It just seems out of place. I do however get the Glowing Vulva and Love's Philosophy comparisons since there is also an underlying creaminess to this. Wet, it goes a bit twangy, if that makes any sense. The florals are jutting out at me, and while they're an enjoyable kind of sweet on their own, I'm finding it to be a bit too much at this point. I think my nose is just overwhelmed by all of these sweet notes at once. I was hoping that once this dried down, it would blossom into the most perfect balance of vanilla and soft florals but alas, it's been over twenty minutes and it's only getting muskier. The vanilla has long disappeared. This would have been awesome had it not been for that out-of-place mystery musky note.

As soon as I got my sniffies in, I quickly went through all of them and took a quick whiff without having the notes in front of me. This one impressed me the most. In the vial, it's a fresh, yet delicate rose and a hint of peony. Wet, it remains as that light and fresh rose for approximately ten seconds then starts to hooks its roots into my skin and show its headier side. It's slowly becoming that rose note that most of the lab's blends has, sadly. I like rose, but I was hoping for something different. No lilac nor honey. After five minutes, it seems to have stabilized itself as a pure rose blend on me. Definitely not a soapy rose, but just heady. I would have sprung for a bottle if it smelled like how it does in the vial on me.

In the vial, this is mainly cypress and juniper berry with an underlying bitterness. Wet, no change. It takes a couple minutes for this to start to develop. I'm finally starting to detect some of the cedar. I find the lab's cedar note far drier from the scent of an actual cedar tree or piece of cedarwood, though. The galbanum must be contributing to the medicinal vibe this is giving off. I detect no floral notes whatsoever.

Fortunately, the snow note isn't as loud in this one as it generally can be in others. In the vial, it's about 1/3 snow and 2/3 of ozone to my nose. Wet, the snow note strengthens up and I can detect a bit of earthiness most likely coming from the moss and sandalwood musk. The snow is even stronger about five minutes in, so looks like I spoke too soon. No thanks.

Once that infamous snow note's in there, it's all over for me. It's usually all I end up smelling. In the vial, this is 98% snow and something vaguely sweet at the very end. It's probably the cherry blossoms buried in the seemingly heaps of snow. As soon as I apply this to my skin, I can detect something dry and on the woody side hiding behind the snow. Snow and dry wood: two of my least favourite notes. They're two of the more tolerable least favourites, but are still bound to ruin a blend's potential, at least for me.

I kind of like this in the vial. The citruses and tropical fruits pop out and there is an underlying breath of fresh air. Wet, the main notes that I can detect are the grapefruit, lemon, and blonde tobacco. There's a clean, soapy note that begins to emerge about three minutes after I applied this to my skin. Huh, that tobacco (and maybe opium too) that was just turning into lit tobacco disappeared and this soapy note has replaced it. Perhaps it's just the tobacco mixing in with something else to create this soapy note but either way, this is no longer fruity nor mildly tobacco-y. Considering how many different notes are in here, I expected something a lot more complex and stimulating.

My first impressions of this in the vial is the oakmoss and nothing else. Wet, I can smell a bit of black tea, but it's weakly brewed to me. After a couple minutes, the anise join the oakmoss but through and through, the oakmoss remains as the dominant note on me. The sweeter notes never showed up on me, sadly. It's an interesting blend but not my style.

I would definitely recommend the Vine too. I get a sparkly pear from it, like pear cider!

I already knew that this one wasn't going to be for me, so when I opened the vial, surprise surprise, bitter hay, wood, dampness, and even some weird sourness in there too. This is one that I will not skin test, because I already know that the hiba wood will unleash its insanity and dry everything up even more, and the hay will be its partner in crime and make this even more bitter.

Cool, I get a balanced blend of tobacco and myrrh in the vial. Wet, there's no change. The honey starts to show itself around five minutes in. It reminds me of the honey from blends such as Lady Una and Half Elf v5. Leather is usually a fail on me so I'm surprised that I don't really smell too much in this blend. The longer this sits on my skin though, the smokier this becomes. Just maybe a bit too much for my liking. It's leaving me in limbo here. On one hand I actually quite like it, but on the other hand, that smokiness doesn't seem to stop and stabilize itself. Great note combination but I'm going to have to pass on this one.

Hmm, that kudzu smells like a dying weed to me. The ginger tries to remedy things but it's not helping. As soon as I apply this to my skin, the kudzu smells smoky, like it has been set on fire. Getting drier on me by the minute. After only five minutes, this is but a thick black cloud of smoke. The ginger is long gone and the cream never showed up in the first place. Forget about the honey too. That is too bad.

This year, the perfume oil kind of weirded me out. It leaves a random, weird undertone on my skin that reminds me a lot of Lush Red Rooster. Nasty. The soap, however, doesn't do that. When I first got my piece of soap, I was disappointed how scentless it smelled. Like almost nothing. But fortunately, once I cut my piece in half, the fresh soap in the middle was a lot more fragrant. Still faint, but at least there was a scent. It really does smell like a delicate sugared baked good. Not necessarily, exactly like a sugar cookie, but it's pleasantly sweet and slightly spicy. The soap was smooth to wash with and quite softening. Overall, better than expected. Will use up my partial bar I got a hold of but won't look for more.

This really is a lot like the perfume oil, although I find that it's not as heavier on the cinnamon. It's smoother and more marshmallow-y. The cinnamon doesn't burn my skin at all when I use this in the shower. If you liked the perfume oil but found it a bit too heavy on the cinnamon, you may actually enjoy this a lot. Totally yummy and one of my favourite bath oils!

Womb Furie '12 doesn't disappoint. This is like my '10 bottle but heavier on the honey. I kind of like the O and Snake Oil combination a little more on the O side. This is a must try for anyone who likes Snake Oil, and of course, honey tolerators. But honestly, if you've missed out on Womb Furie or can't find it, you can always simply layer SO and O and get pretty much the same results.

I don't really know what to make of this. It smells slightly dry and woodsy yet medicinal too. Besides the galbanum, I can't pick out any of the other notes, which usually are detectable to my nose. Wet, the rose automatically pops up, as usual, gets right down to business, and heads in the soapy direction. Maybe a bit of amber but it's barely noticeable. This still stays very balsamy and woodsy. Dry and slightly bitter, with a soapy background. Not a fan.

The list of notes was sure looking good up until I got to the jasmine and patchouli. In the vial, I am initially hit with a breath of ozone but the patchouli just has to come crashing down on it a split second later. Wet, the patchouli is being an aggressive jerk again. The sweet apricot and orange blossom are trying to save the day but alas, the patchouli keeps this too earthy and dry. No jasmine at all. After a few minutes, the musk shows up. I can now smell that jasmine here too but it's actually works in this blend. I'd probably really like this if it didn't have the patchouli. Pass.

This one hits me in a funny way when I smell it from the vial. It's definitely raw coconut as it smells on the greener side, and to top it off, it is interrupted by the saltiness from the ambergris. But it actually ends up being a good match. Really does make me think of a beach. When I apply this to my skin, the ambrette seed swoops in and makes this muskier. As it's drying on me, it's becoming more artificial. Almost like rubber. A disappointment but what can you do.

Up until now, I've only tried '08, and I was disappointed in it because it smelled like Snake Charmer heavier on the red musk, which I don't care too much for since plum is is meh to my nose. '12 though? Colour me impressed. It's a lot more vibrant and doesn't have that musty vibe I get from SC or Smut '08. The fruits pop out more like an electric purple. I smell cherry in this year's version too, which contributes to the brightness. I think I even smell a dash of spice, like cinnamon? As soon as I put this on my skin, it's heading in the direction of the musk. It's also slightly burning my skin, so perhaps there is some sort of spice in there and I haven't completely lost my mind. After just a couple minutes, my skin has turned quite red too. Anyway, this is getting muskier as the minutes go by and is reminding me more and more of my Smut '08 decant. It's alright but I love way more other red musk blends. I'm also worried this would age to become another Snake Charmer Res relative. Glad I finally tried some fresh Smut, though.

Oh damn, this smells so good. It's fresh, juicy pear, but it has a sparkliness to it that reminds me of the pear cider that I used to drink when I lived in Sweden. Hmm, but wet, it actually turns into a more realistic pear, with its core, stem, and all. But it's on the drier side, like a pear that hasn't ripened yet, or properly even, and as a result, isn't as sweet. The sweetness weaves in and out of the fragrance; it comes and goes. It's intriguing, but I'm disappointed that I cannot smell any honey or cream. It fades so fast on me, unfortunately. I'd totally buy a bottle of this but not sure if it would be worth it since it has such an incredibly light throw. So far, my favourite of the Lupers!

I thought the black sandalwood would have me running away screaming in terror, as that note tends to be much too dry and burnt, and so not sandalwood to my nose at all. Surprisingly, in the vial, this remind me of lot of Mourning Lace, but it's sweeter and its clove isn't as intense. Actually, once I apply this to my skin, it immediately moves away from ML. The white tea leaf bursts out to give this a sharp freshness, and the clove actually took a chill pill and wandered off somewhere. I'm liking the frankincense in this blend. It provides warmth and a slight tinge of darkness.

Wow, this is a pleasant surprise. In the vial, it's a soft and sweet osmanthus candy. Wet, the subtle saltiness of the ambergris peeks out. Unfortunately, after only a few minutes, it's losing that soft floral candy that I'm admiring so much and turning into a sharper floral. It's starting to lose its uniqueness, at least on me. The drier hay has finally shown up, which I was hoping wouldn't show up on my skin. Damn, it started out really great, but slowly drifted away into blahness.

Ugh, I can already tell that this isn't going to go well. In the vial, all the medicinal notes automatically surface and cover everything else up. No cardamom nor honey. Even the rock rose hasn't made an appearance. Wet, it slightly improves, thankfully because of notes such as honey and rose, and here, the rose isn't too sour or heady. After a couple minutes, the opoponox adds a bit of a smokey sweetness to this. It's gotten better with time but it's still not my style.

This is definitely rosy in the vial. Like a deep red, confident rose. On me, it's the exact same, although after a few minutes, an smoky incense emerges but remains in the background. It adds depth to the rose, however, this is still mostly red rose. I found that just after a few minutes, this turns into a very strong, hostile, pungent rose. Burnt rose actually. It has crossed the line, damnit.

In the vial, it initially hits me with a sweet bouquet of flowers but after a couple seconds, becomes headier. The more I smell this in the vial, the more I can detect the bergamot peeking out from the piles of flowers. Wet, this is mainly lily and rose with a touch of bergamot. The bergamot slowly fades and is replaced by a stronger rose, though. I'm surprisingly getting no dryness whatsoever from the white sandalwood or orris root. In the end, it actually settles down as a lily- and gardenia-heavy white floral blend. I like florals but this is too much for me.

My nose interprets this very differently in the vial. It's fresh, but almost sharp and candy-like at the very beginning. It really takes a turn once applied to my skin, though. It immediately turns herbal with that fresh, aquatic note remaining in the background. The so-called candy impression I got in the vial has completely vanished, and the longer this sits on my skin, as usual for a rose amper, the rosier this becomes. The rose at least brings some fresh citrus along with it so it doesn't get too overwhelmingly floral and stays on the fresh, clean side. It's actually a beautiful blend but I can't see myself ever using a bottle of this.