maribouquet

I was fortunate enough to receive a sniffy of Luperci in a decant circle, so I got to try something I never would have ordered because I thought it wouldn't work on me. I was right! LadyBug, I'm with you - this smells like a hotel room on me.

imp: wood and some sort of sour floral

wet: a flash of a complex floral, and then straight-up acetone

dry: ylang-ylang is doing its solvent-sour thing on me

 

Swaaaaaps!

Sweet and spicy, like clove at first - almost piney, and the dry down is the perfect incense blend.

 

Not to my taste, but I think incense lovers will be all over this one.

I don't know which note (or notes) is the the culprit, but this goes straight to play-doh on me.

imp: cologne!

wet: soapy cologne

 

Oh, oh, this is worrisome, but as it dries I start to smell the honey and a bit of mint...

 

Even dry the seaweed is dominant on me and it just smells icky with my skin.

imp: flaky cocoa

wet: sandalwood

 

I like sandalwood and I still have no idea about myrrh, and the chocolate in this is gorgeous, but the 'worst' parts of the notes come out on me and makes this too alkaline-smelling. Booo, I'm blaming the myrrh.

I must shout out for Cloister Graveyard in the Snow! Frankincense and mint! It's one of my favorites.

Very melon-y at first, with an effervescence. Nicely blended, and this is one of the few booze and/or tobacco containing scents that I can wear without getting a headache. It's sweet, and strong on me, so I make sure to apply it with a light hand. I like Ogun in warm weather, which seems so far away right now...

This is just lovely - it's the best parts of Black Opal, and the notes are so well balanced. The ozone plays nicely and overall this is creamy and liquid, but not foody. It smells a little like coconut when first on, but doesn't enter into sunscreen territory, instead it lingers on a high, ethereal plane. Really just gorgeous. Am seriously contemplating a bottle...

I love this one so much. It's a dark, sophisticated floral with substance.

I had such high hopes that The Clod and The Pebble would be a spicy sister to Wanton, but the cedar and patchouli take over and wreak sweaty havoc on my skin. I will test this again but I fear my decant is destined for swaps.

Sorry to say the vanilla cream notes made this all gross on me. Swaps!

The wood and blue musk here remind me of Silence, although where Silence is a very still scent, Night Thoughts has more movement and a wistful sweetness - I think from the lilac? This is lovely - the cedar is noticeable at first, but it doesn't go all evil like it sometimes does on me. It settles down after about 20 minutes and leaves me with a very well-blended, lovely, pretty scent. I can't pick out the notes.

 

Love it. So glad I got a bottle.

Such interesting notes, and yet this is very meh on me. It just kind of lies there, smelling like men's hair gel. Limp dick syndrome.

Mmm, I really like this - like a wet, country field. That's sounds sort of unpleasant, doesn't it? But it's not! It smells deep green and good. Definitely keeping my decants and may end up ordering a bottle.

 

ETA: Very peppery in the drydown - hello carnation!

With two lilies in here, I'm expecting Her Voice to be a screaming failure on me...

 

Wet, this is like walking into a flower shop in early spring. Very pretty, yet not particularly floral - more like a pale green smell, like the insides of flower stems. As it dries I smell pea pods! So neat. The green stem smell becomes 'meatier' as it dries... Lots of throw, too.

 

I can't really pick out any distinct floral notes yet. I think I will have to let this sit and retest...on first impression it's very pretty and nothing at all like I'd thought/feared it would be.

Wet this smells like...a band-aid? Shades of Opium Poppy, I guess! And dry on me it's still band-aid, with overtones of...something. Huh. What's going on here, I wonder? Can I blame the champaca flower and the davana blossom?

The rose in this is just lovely, but sadly the resin notes are not agreeing with me and I'm getting a strong pickle-molasses scent.

Very light and fresh. On me this is predominantly a (strangely!) aquatic tang of lemon and the clean scent of apple blossom. I think maybe the champagne grape note is adding to the airy, light feel. Very nice!

Play-doh, says my skin

Very creamy at first and it puts me in mind of cream caramels. The teak appears during the drydown. This is really well blended and it's not overly sweet despite the lotus (lotus scares me!).

I smell the honey at first, and I suspect something among those top notes is giving me a sour, plant-like smell. This warms up as it dries, and becomes a little smoky and I like the labdanum (or what I think is the labdanum?) However, it's not quite doing it for me. It's lovely, but I'll swap this one.

Ooh, a very clean, oceanic scent. Unfortunately for me, my skin takes this and turns it into soap, as it does with pretty much all aquatics, I'm afraid.

Cold and snowy, and I can pick up the eucalyptus...but, yeah, mazikeen I'm getting the sour smell too - not bad sour, sort of a sweet sour, like umeboshi or a tangy berry.

 

Very interesting. I'm on the fence as to whether or not to keep this one or pass it along to someone who will love it more...

 

ETA: I think I smell orris in the drydown...pretty!

Oh noooo, it's just as I feared! The lily kills this for me.