forspecial_plate

I've worn this a few times, and it's really growing on me. At first I thought it was slightly powdery but I think that is more of a dryness, that is perhaps coming off as almost powdery. I agree that it smells like clove, but this doesn't have the sourness that I often get from clove. For example, The Smiling Spider doesn't agree with me, because it turns really dark and sour. But Velvet Bandito is lighter and sweeter. That is not to say it has a light throw.....on the contrary, it has a pretty substantial throw, and lasts a good while, too. Overall it's spicy and sweet, but not like a cookie or anything. It's more like other people have been saying.....dry spices in a wood box, with tobacco. I mentioned this elsewhere, but it reminds me a lot of Demeter's Humidor, only this is stronger.

I've only been here at work for an hour and a half, and I've already had my fill of these people. I know that supposedly there's no scientific evidence that the full moon affects people's behavior, but I'm here to tell you that it does happen. This current full moon (which was actually last night, I think) has brought out a lot of aggression and anger in many people that I've interacted with. It continues tonight, and I'm just about over it. Scratch that.....I am over it.

I've only tried Velvet Bandito once, but it reminded me a lot of Demeter's Humidor (except VB has some more 'oomph', and has a powdery element). So if you like Humidor, but found that it didn't last long enough, Velvet Bandito could be just what you're looking for.

Golden pear, amber, fig leaf, oakmoss, bronze musk, mahogany, patchouli, and a smattering of glittering pyrite. This is pretty much a winner. I recognize some notes that I've smelled before, but not in this combination. I smell the same pear note from Quincey Morris, and that stands out above the other notes. Overall this is somewhat sweet and fruity, with just the right balance of the wood, amber, etc. Nothing else really stands out. The oakmoss doesn't turn soapy, which makes me happy. And I'm glad this has fig leaf instead of fig, otherwise this might be too sweet. I would call it just right the way it is, and if I use my imagination I can pick out that fig leaf, just a little. What I think of when I wear this is Mr. Jacquel, although they don't really smell alike, they are somewhat like cousins. This is probably my favorite of the three Le Mat scents.

I like this....it smells mostly like smokey toffee at first, and reminds me of scratch 'n sniff stickers from when I was little. Later, the woodsy parts come out, and I find myself thinking of Riding The Goat, but with some sultry toffee layered on top. I never tried Ventriloquist Dummy so I can't say how that compares. I don't get a lot of coffee, it's mostly smokey toffee and woods. It had a teasing quality to my nose, it keeps wafting up and around me, reminding me that it's there (duh, I guess most scents do that). But it does smell a little different if I sniff up close, compared to the throw. It's a good scent! Edit....I agree with the reviewer after me who was reminded of El Dia de Reyes. I thought of it right away when I put on Velvet Dogs Playing Poker, but just forgot to mention it in my review. It must be the sweet coffee!

I'm pretty horrified about the price---48.00 for eight imps????? Not to mention, they shouldn't be calling them "imps" if they are LE scents. I'm not chastising you for using "imps", oceandreamer, I know we say it a lot around here. I'm just saying if they were authorized sellers they should know that. [i know it sounds knit-picky, but it's something that the lab is pretty clear about, and it has been brought up in the past]

I had no doubts at all that I'd be getting a bottle of this. It's really great, but I like the opening 'wet on the skin' stage more than anything. It's fruity and dark like Faiza, almost reminding me of a deep, blood-red sangria or something*. The other notes are there, swirling around, and I think I can pick out violet leaf and anise, if I try. As it starts to dry, the dark musk and vanilla come out and pretty much take over. The star anise reminds me a bit of leather, which it tends to do sometimes. The vanilla is the deep, smokey variety, and it reminds me of Snake Oil's vanilla. As for the dark musk, I've smelled that before, too. It calls to mind Iago and Haunted, like someone else mentioned. But smelling this musk and vanilla together might be a new thing for me. I can't remember that combination in any other bpal scent, but they work together really, really well! As it continues to dry and starts to fade, the musk does start to take on a powdery aspect, which I thought might happen, and is pretty much my only complaint about this scent. Much, much later, I think the woods and vetiver come out a bit, and the scent takes on a more cologne-like quality, which is fine with me, but might turn some others off (assuming they have the same experience). The person above who said to try this in a scent locket is probably on to something here. It's that first stage of the scent that really grabs me, and I want that to last longer! *Edit....."Sangria" may be misleading, because that fruity part is just one part of the scent. But I wanted to say, it's not a bright and fruity blend at all, the fruity part is more deep, if you know what I mean.

I want these!! Dorian with...... Sunflower accord (like the Salon blend) Clove and autumn leaves Snake Oil with..... red wine

Yay, I got to try this today! When wet, this scent is very snappy and green, kind of peppery and slightly minty. It reminds me of rubbing fresh herbs between my fingers, almost like the scent that is left on my skin when I pick and clean fresh basil. Sometimes tea notes remind me of citrus, but I don't get any citrus out of V. Cthulhu. I didn't find this very juicy or aquatic at all. As it dries, it becomes more dry and dusty. I think I'm mostly smelling the cedar, sage, and khus. Incredibly, it really does remind me of a very green velvet painting, kind of dusty and fuzzy, and with imagination you can even smell the incense that was burned in the room with the painting. It's a pretty neat scent and I can hardly wait to try the other velvet painting scents.

I love the way this smells....I can't keep my hand away from my nose when I wear it. Maybe not so gender-appropriate for me, since I'm a guy, but I don't care....I want to wear this to work, and other places. I like all the notes in Dia, and my only slight worry was that the scent would be soapy or powdery, and it has hints of both of those, but never quite crosses the line where it's too much. Oakmoss is a note that I want to love, but I think that sometimes it becomes soapy on me. In this case, it's not too soapy though, which makes me happy. All the other notes just seem to blend together until nothing really stands out too much. I would agree with most of the other reviews, this is a light, musky floral scent. The colors I think of are white and pale green at first, then the amber warms the scent up a bit, and I think of golden/yellow threads winding through the white and green. It's really great and it does remind me of Snow White, only there's no chill in this one, and it's not quite as floral. I love it!

I never reviewed this?? Inconceivable! I really like Blade Of Grass. It is definitely realistic, and I can smell both the snappy green grass and the mellow autumn leaves. However, it's light and subtle enough that I can wear it to work and not make people think, "Why do I smell grass??". I read some other reviews that mention soap, and I didn't think so, but at least one friend of mine did say it reminded him of soap. To me, it's like a lighter October, and I already have a full bottle of that. I think this could work for those that found October too cologney or after-shavey (if I remember correctly, that was a common complaint). I like both scents, though. This one has a light green and gold feeling.

First of all.....if you're reading this, and I complain about something that you do, please don't take it personally. Just a minor pet peeve of mine. I've noticed a trend lately with reviews. People are writing their reviews based only on sniffing the scent in the vial, not putting it on the skin. This drives me crazy. Basically, it's like judging a book by it's cover. In my experience, most scents smell totally different, or they go through changes, after they touch a person's skin. I admit, when I go to a meet 'n sniff, I don't try on every scent that I come across. I smell some of them in the bottle and make a judgment based solely on that impression. But that is different from writing a review for other people to read. When I read a review of a scent, and the person didn't actually try it on, I write it off as completely useless to me.

DCVII I got this from Supremegoddessofall. : ) She called it earthy and masculine, which I can agree with. At first I was calling this 'Deep Purple' because when I first tried it, it had an odd purple feel, but not fruity in the slightest, and not really floral either. Now that I've had it for a few months, it's not quite as 'purple' as I thought, although there is still a slightly purple feeling when I smell it. SO.....what does it smell like? It's kind of gritty, sooty, dusty, and also dusky. It has a dark/night-time mood. I think there is vetiver, and it kind of reminds me of a toned-down On Darkness, without the sweetness/fruitiness of that scent. This one is really hard to pin down, but I like it a lot. It's possible there is some patchouli, too. I think there could be something planty, maybe pine, because at times it reminds me of Jolasveinar. I still don't know what that purple note is, but it fades in and out of the blend. Far into the dry-down, I think I can detect vetiver. At this point it's reminding me of Devil's Claw, a little bit. I wish I could describe this better, I know I'm not doing it justice! : )

The numbers are a little rubbed off, but it looks like CCXCVII. I first tried this with moonarcana, and we each wrote down our (very different) impressions without saying them out loud. It was fun! Wet on the skin, I got the suggestion of black licorice, big time. Moonarcana smelled hay and/or grassy notes. As it started to dry, I began to think it might have a hint of leather. I smelled a very little bit of Snake Oil, and moonarcana didn't smell Snake Oil at all! Upon drying down, we both agreed this scent changed a lot. I still smelled a leathery note, but I also picked up on a big metallic presence with ozone. Moonarcana smelled tobacco leaf, and some kind of wood note that she couldn't pinpoint. Something like mahogany. She eventually smelled the Snake Oil component, and I smelled it stronger than the wet stage. SO.......after we shared our impressions, I can see where she gets a grassy note because something reminded me of Scarecrow, a little bit. And I agree that there could very well be a deep wood note. She agreed with me that there could be some leather in there. To sum it up......this could possibly have: leather, anise, grass, hay, metal, ozone, wood, and tobacco, with Snake Oil. I think of it as the love child of Iago, Scarecrow, and Snake Oil [conceived at the Steamworks & Research Facility?]. When I tried it again the next day, the Snake Oil was much stronger. Definitely a winner for me!

I like this scent, and everyone else pretty much described it better than I could....or at least I'm getting the same impressions. Very light, marshmallow sweet at first, then a mixture of floral, musky, and a touch of verbena. I agree with the 'cold floral' feeling that others talk about, and also the delicate white metal, which is strange. It might lean towards feminine, but I don't care....it just smells good. Besides, one other reviewer considered it somewhat masculine, so I guess it's all subjective (or is it objective? I get those confused). Anyway, like I said, this JUST SMELLS GOOD, and I personally don't find it powdery or soapy (either of which might turn me off). Chinese musk really drew me to the Phoenix scents this time around. I used to have a bottle of non-Bpal Chinese musk that I liked, but I lost it. I like it in all of these scents, although it's not so obvious in all of them. It's obviously a very light variety of musk, maybe related to white musk. If it were ever offered as a single note, I would happily buy at least a bottle and wear it on its own.

Starting out, this smells almost fruity on me. It reminds me of ginger blossom or vanilla flower....sweet and floral, and a touch fruity. At this stage it reminds me of Opuhi. Then later, as it dries, some drier notes come forward and it takes on more of a grass or hay aspect. It's a very golden scent, from start to finish. Starts out with a 'roundness', if you know what I mean. But as it dries it becomes just a little flat on my skin. I think I'd like more cinnamon, more amber incense. I think it's the vanilla that goes just a little flat on me. I don't hate it, but I admit I was a little disappointed. I wanted something sultry like Mum Moon, and to me this is more like Hay Moon.

So here I am, blogging about video games on a perfume discussion forum. Ten years ago I would have had no idea what that even meant. But I already have the last post in the video game discussion thread, and I don't want to double post. I'm still playing Dragon Quest VIII, but I got Final Fantasy IX this past weekend, and I may be switching over to that for a while. In DQVIII, I got all the way up to the big God Bird, but haven't been able to beat it. So I'm back-tracking, trying to alchemize better weapons, level up, and also buy better equipment. I will beat that damn bird! Switching over to FFIX was a little jarring. The graphics are so different, and the battle system is a little different since it's Active. I like being able to sit and think about my next move, and you can't really do that here. But I'm determined to find another RPG that I love, so on I go. The great news is, after my class tomorrow, I'll have no real obligations for the rest of the day, and all the next day. So I can play to my heart's content. : )

What, I've never reviewed Geek?? I loved this at first sniff, a couple years ago. It's kind of wild and....almost elegant, at the same time. Cinnamon bark is what stands out most, but even that is so well-blended it's more like a hint. Everything else is just seamless. As it dries, it actually gains strength, and lasts and lasts for hours. It's borderline too butch for me and not something I wear all the time. But when I'm in the mood, nothing else will do. I get a big golden/resiny backdrop to the spices, and hint of leather. It might be the dry grass combined with opoponax giving me the 'ambery' feeling. But there's no powder, like you might find in really resinous scents like Minotaur. It fits in with the mood of Doc Constantine, and Fascinum, a little bit. I may be going out on a limb with those comparisons but they seem to be in the same family. Doc C. is the most subdued, Fascinum is the most brash, and Geek falls somewhere between them.

I squeed my pants when I saw this: "For this series, we decided to try a different type of chaotic experimentation. Each CT:5 scent has a base of one of the following scents, in wildly varying proportions: Dorian O Penitence Snake Oil" ....I totally was not expecting a new round of Chaos Theory!! All my bottle purchasing plans just went out the window in favor of CT. I love it so much, because each one is on-of-a-kind. My tentative plans for purchasing this round: Snake Oil.....will 2 be enough? I dunno, I already bought the whole Snake Pit, how many Snake Oil variants can one person hoard?? I did trade away a few of my Snake Pit scents, though. I'll say 2 of these, for now. Dorian......at least 2, maybe 3......not because I'm crazy about the scent, really, but I think this one has the most exciting potential to be something great with other notes added (did that make sense? I know I'm rambling now). Penitence.....at least one, maybe 2.....Penitence itself goes just a bit powdery on me, but I like it enough that I want to try one or two variations, just for the hell of it! O.....no thank you! I am glad there is one that I can safely skip. I never have tried it, and honey usually is not my thing. So, screw it, I should just get 1 of each (of the first 3) now, then another one of each (maybe 2 more of Snake Oil) before they go away. Sounds like a plan! I'm already impatient!

I really like this. It smells kind of high-class and sophisticated to me. It's light and clean, like others have mentioned, and dry, dry, dry. I was expecting more sweetness or juiciness from the apricot, but not so. I am reminded of Ebisu and also Men Ringing Bells, the best parts of those scents, but the woods make this entirely its own scent. There is something sparkly, almost minty, which I guess comes from the sake? For some reason I was expecting something like Carceri D'Invenzione, but this is much drier. This seems so simple, but everything comes together, harmonious, and just works really well on me. Even though it's a light scent, there is a surprising amount of sillage. This is just great, a big surprise from the Lupercalia scents. I knew I might like it, but I wasn't really expecting to like it this much!

I don't have a scent locket. I've thought about buying one, and I bought one for my sister, but I've never bought one for myself. I always think, "I have so many different scents that I can hardly decide what to wear on any given day. A scent locket is just going to make that decision more complex and difficult. It's like adding another layer to the whole business when what I really want to do is simplify". However, every once in a while I come across a scent that is really nice, but seems that it would be better suited for a scent locket. So now I'm going to start making note of that here. Tamamo-No-Mae is such a scent. It is very, very lovely, but somewhat fleeting. When I first put it on, it has these delicate, sparkly top notes, something almost minty, that could be from the tea or maybe ginger, or who knows what. Anyway, I love that part of the scent, but on my skin it lasts all of 5 minutes! It's still a great scent after that, just very subtle and kind of like skin-incense, the powder stuff (although I've never tried that). Kind of fruity and smokey-sweet at the same time. So, as a note to myself, or a reminder, when I do eventually get a scent locket, Tamamo-No-Mae would be a great scent for it. I think that sparkly note in the beginning might last longer, and the scent as a whole might be a little stronger in a locket. If I find more scents that seem tailor-made for a locket, I'll continue to make note of it here.

I really love this, and it totally doesn't match my personality (or gender, really...), but I just love the way it smells on my skin. The first day I tried it, it was less foody and almost hair product, like conditioner or something. But since then, it is always light, creamy plum blossom, pretty much as others have described. It's like some fabulous, creamy plum dessert. Just light and fruity and yum! I agree that it doesn't have a lot of throw. When it has dried on my skin, after a while, it deepens and becomes something like plum tea or maybe even plum wine (is there such a thing? there must be...). I also agree that there's something Underpants-y about this scent, although I couldn't describe exactly how. And if you like Tamamo-No-Mae, you may also like this, although they are different. But this is just great, my favorite so far of the whole Lupercalia update. Oh and I wanted to add, this reminds me very much of one of the 4 Fat Cats wax tarts, but I can't remember which one. Maybe White Plum Chutney? That would make sense. Or maybe Basmati Rice. Anyway, it brings back good memories and I think I may need more of this scent. Edit: I also want to add that this isn't totally foody. The sandalwood doesn't stand out a whole lot, but it must be supporting somewhat.

I wore Lovers In A Rice Field again today, and I like it more and more. The plum blossom was much more apparent, and overall it smells like some kind of fabulous plum/cream dessert, but still not totally foody. It's rather on the femme side for a bearded guy like me but that doesn't hasn't stopped me from wearing it, and in some situations it would be just great. Possible bottle? Or maybe just another decant would suffice. Still have to test my other decants which are still pending, and there may be another favorite among those.

As much as I can remember, Lupercalia is my least favorite of the yearly 'big updates' from Black Phoenix. Every year, I get excited about trying some new scents, but overall, they've had the lowest success rate for me. I like a couple of the Shunga scents from '08, like Ebisu Making Love, and Men Ringing Bells (actually bought a whole bottle of that one, even though I don't wear it much). They both remind me of some kind of fabulous, expensive hair care products. And I really like Chintimani-Dhupa, which I think was a Lupercalia scent. Today I got some of my decants from this year's update, and so far I've briefly tested Miller Vs. California, Lovers In A Rice Field, and Lovers With Rutting Cats. I think the Rice Field is the best out of those, but again, it smells like some kind of fancy shampoo or conditioner. Not so much foody as drinky to me, it starts out rather like shampoo or soap. Then it drifts into plum tea, then later into plum wine. This scent, in the early stages especially, is extremely reminiscent of one of the 4 Fat Cats wax tarts, but I can't remember which one. Basmati Rice, or maybe White Plum Chutney. This is nice because it reminds me of when I lived in northern Kentucky, three years ago, which although not the greatest time of my life, does have some pleasant memories. Lovers With Rutting Cats is probably my least favorite of the three. It reminds me of Love's Philosophy, but not as sweet or sugary. Or maybe Stimulating Sassafras Strengthener, without the sassafras. Basically I get a lot of vanilla that comes off a little plasticky, and as a whole, the scent just feels a little flat or one-dimensional to me. I might be spoiled because so many other bpal scents seem 'deep' to me, and this one just falls flat on my skin, unfortunately. Of course, this is from a first impression, and those sometimes change. Miller Vs. California is an interesting one. This scent actually smells more complex than the notes suggest. I first smelled a lot of sweetness, fruit, berries, and cream. The leather seems to be a supporting note only, nothing like the leather in Quincey Morris, or other leathery blends. As this one dries, it changes a lot. The papery note and the leather both come out stronger, and it also seems to get spicier, which I attribute to either the leather, fig, or possibly both (or maybe something else entirely!). At the beginning, this reminds me a lot of the newer Milk Moon, which I hated, but this is better....the cream isn't so sour or cloying. It's creamy, but the sweetness of the berries and fig balance it out a little more. I think the leather is actually helping to ground the scent a lot, even though I couldn't really smell it at first. Later, after drying, this scent smells entirely different.....it does remind me of some other GC scent, but I can't think of which one. Nephelim? Or the one I can never spell, Tzadikim Nasturtium or something. Anyway, I swear there is another scent that smells something like this, but I can't place which one it is. I like the early sweet and creamy stage more than the later, dry, papery/spicy stage of this one. So far I can't say that I'm likely to get much wear out of these, but I also have yet to try my other decants. I have Flowering Chrysanthemums and Phallus Head still to try, as well as decants from another circle still on the way. I'm really looking forward to Dia and Glukuprikos (sp?).

Three Gorgons (I no longer think I want a whole bottle of this.....Satan And Death is a better citrus-y scent) Dia Flowering Chrysanthemums Lovers In A Ricefield Glukuprikos Silence Carnaval Diabolique Satan And Death With Sin Intervening Obatala