Laughing Seagull

I received a decant of this from paperflowers as a bonus gift in this year's Luper decant circle. Apparently I had a weird skin reaction to a hair gloss before (I don't remember but left myself a note about it), but I'm giving it another go. Since I've completely forgotten about the previous hair gloss I tried, this will be my "first." It's surprising! I thought this would smell like cherries and cotton candy, but it's actually quite spicy. As others have said, allspice is the main vibe I get from this. I like throwing allspice corns(? Is that what you call pieces of allspice? Like a peppercorn?) in rice sometimes and this smells just like popping open the tin of allspice corns. Something in it also reminds me of Under the Foot Warmer from the 2021 Shungas. I'm guessing it's red musk. As for its performance as a hair gloss, just a few spritzes from the spray bottle and a run with a wide-tooth comb helps make my hair look smooth with defined curls instead of frizzy, and the scent is long lasting. If my skin doesn't do anything bad this time, I might try another HG because I like the way it makes my hair look/feel. I'd pick another scent though. Probably Razors in a Doll's House.

Reminds me a lot of Flowering Peonies from the 2021 Shunga set, which was another lychee/peony scent. And like Flowering Peonies, it leaves me wishing it was fruitier or at least that the florals would settle down a little. This is a lone fruit in a room full of giant waxy flowers.

Roasty chestnuts and toasty spices! I would've guessed this was a Yule if I didn't know better because it reminds me of Christmas markets. Even though it's sweet chestnut with caramel, it's not a sugar bomb. It's just a little bit sweet. I agree with the "cardamom roll filling" description from OxfordComma. Occasionally hits close to Chimera. It's quite long lasting and becomes just slightly sweeter as time passes, but never loses sight of its toasty spice base. Verdict: A cozy, low-key wintertime scent. Nice non-cinnamon spice.

It smells like raspberries and cake batter, holy shit ETA: Rose petals come out later, they're pink and sugary smelling. I was so excited about the raspberry cake batter that it skipped my mind. The rose makes it even more luxurious. ETA again: It is VERY strong and lasts for a very long time. Perfect scent (unless you think it's too sweet, which is extremely possible)

I'm trying this directly out of the mail, so impressions are subject to change. In the vial, I get a whiff of straight up sweet, cherry-like dragon's blood. This changes immediately to become cypress-dominant (fortunately it's piney cypress instead of cat pee cypress, if you know you know) upon application and gradually balances out as the perfume dries. Over time, the cypress becomes fruitier and fruitier and a backdrop of chrysanthemum develops. I recognize this chrysanthemum from Calavera Catrina. Chrysanthemum isn't in the notes list but it's what I'm detecting - maybe the immortelle note is similar. What remains after everything seems to have settled down is a sizable cloud of purple fruit mist, slightly embittered by chrysanthemums. "Cloud" because it seems to have a relatively large throw but isn't overpowering. I suspect this may have a very different progression on different people, but for me it was 100% dragon's blood in decant vial - 100% cypress immediately after applying to skin - cypress and plums as it dries - cypress, plums, and chrysanthemums later as it dries - plums and chrysanthemums - amber? Verdict: Neat! Not really "me," but an enjoyable experience nonetheless.

Testing a 3 yr old imp. My impression of Pele is white flowers on a rainy day. I think that muguet is responsible for the rainy day imagery since I'm used to associating it with watery scents. Gentle and benign are accurate. These florals are as fresh and inoffensive as florals get. There's nothing funky, aggressive, or ominous going on here, just a peaceful drizzle over pretty white blooms. She's a beauty, but a bit of a demure one. The scent is modest and seemingly in a hurry to leave.

Testing a relatively fresh imp (about 4 months old). I wanted to try a perfume with hyssop in it because I visited a garden shop that had pots and pots of blooming hyssop and it smelled amazing. Unfortunately, Against Idleness and Mischief isn't the right one for me. It's dominated by razor sharp honey with the florals completely buried. It sticks close to the skin for its whole (relatively short) duration and I can only faintly detect a flower or two behind the honey waterfall when I sniff right on my skin after 3 hours or so. Needless to say, I didn't get along with this one... Which I suppose makes sense, since I'm pretty in favor of idleness and mischief.

Testing an aged imp, approx 3 years Initial blast of catbox jasmine. The catbox part burns off and something sugary replaces it, fortunately, leaving me with sugared white flowers. Gradually, something bitter slides in. I guess it's the dirt/moss. The later stages of this morph into a pile of decaying herbs. Overall it morphs and tells a story, but it's not one I'm particularly interested in. When it comes to incense + florals I'd stick with Event Horizon, or for pure florals, Twilight.

Sampling an approx 2 year old imp On application I am reminded why I am wary of cardamom in perfume. I am body slammed by buckets of pure cardamom smell, which I don't even like that much. From there I am trapped in a game of "wait for any other note to appear." It takes about half an hour for an unsweetened medium roast milk coffee to be ejected from Cardamom Hell. Cardamom Hell is still there, mind you. It's inescapable. I give it a cardamom out of 10.

This review is of an old imp, I think from around 2008. My impression of this is the smell of a really old, squishy leather chair and vetiver. You know when you go to someone's house or a particularly cozy business and they've got an ancient leather chair that's sagging, covered in crackles, and has faded into that tiger's-eye gold color? It's like that. With vetiver. As it dries, it blooms into what I'd call vetiver and polished wood sweetened lightly with tonka. Medium throw, pretty good staying power. Nice to find a masc-leaning scent that's not a blast of oakmoss or frankincense for once. Not something I'd buy for myself but it'd be good on someone else.

Testing a ~3 year old imp. Roses, Pearls, and Diamonds is doing a tightrope walk on the line between grandma's bathroom and a rose and coconut cream ice cream. Orris pulls it towards granny's powder room while the musks struggle to keep things polished and sparkly instead of dusty. Has an absolute supernova of a throw when first applied which becomes smaller but still above average after drying. For a little while (like 40 minutes) this flips back and forth between granny powder room and rose ice cream before eventually settling on rose milk and sunscreen. Beachy! I like it, but I don't love it at this point. I'll be coming back for more tests later.

I have a bottle of this frommmm I think 2008 or 2009. That's what this review is based on. The initial wet application stage is pure banana and I love it. I didn't really think I'd be into the banana but I dig it. It made me start seriously considering a bottle of Banana Peel in a Graveyard, but I'm afraid it will be more graveyard than banana peel. Unfortunately the banana fades off fairly quickly as it dries, turning into musky fruit punch. This is fine and I'm pretty sure it's doing exactly what it's supposed to do, but I miss the banana, bros.

Aged imp (2 years or so) test. My impression is a rich, dark colored rose (as opposed to a watery rose like a tea rose). I wouldn't have guessed that cinnamon was present because I only detect rose. Very pleasant, but this had basically no throw and didn't last very long for me. This Harlot was surprisingly timid and was in a hurry to leave.

I found an imp of this in a box that I don't think I ever tested which is at least a year or 2 old. I put it on without reading the notes first and my immediate thought was "I bet this is tea rose." It is, as others have said, a "watery" rose. There is something very gentle and sweet accompanying the rose that I want to say is just a teeny touch of anise or licorice root. It's pretty, but I prefer a darker hussy of a rose, like Blood Rose. ETA: Lucy's Kiss is quite long lasting! About 12 hours later I can still smell it.

I have a really, really old bottle of this. I don't remember when I got it, I just know that it's many years old. Event Horizon is moderately floral, very resinous, and VERY STRONG!!! I put on a bit too much this morning and it's been aggressively invading my nose holes all day. I agree with the review a few posts above relating it to Black Lotus. It has a resemblance, but this resinous black hole doesn't have the bright and playful lotus to throw you a rope. The closest this ever gets to giving you a sign of light on the other side is the vanillic benzoin that hangs just on the edge. I wouldn't call it disconcerting, but I also think that the "Nosferatu" scent is sexy so ymmv. I do agree that Event Horizon is very heavy, with a syrupy kind of sweetness. And given how strong it is and how long it lasts, it suits the name because once you put some on, you're not escaping it any time soon.