LavenderCoffee
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Everything posted by LavenderCoffee
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This one was a lovely surprise - I just wanted to see if you could pick out the smoked lilac, and you can, but I'm quite enamored with the composition as a whole. I don't get fresh lilac from this, I get a creamy lilac (more lilac butter than orris butter, but probably the combined effect) accented with vanilla and a hint of smoke and oakmoss. Very wearable.
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Quicken the Soul goes on with a big boom of cacao, which is very much my jam, but then the cacao promptly settles in with the patchouli, which is also my jam. So there's a familiar base to the blend, but then the jasmine/chamomile/white tea in top range seems to stand out in contrast. These come across as a chord to me rather than as distinct notes, and it is a strangely dissonant one. I want to say there's something a bit rude about the way the base notes and top notes grapple with each other - it's definitely not just an omg jasmine moment for me - but I keep coming back to sniff at it anyway. Ultimately it comes together for me a bit more after it dries completely, but I can't quite describe it and it's got me a bit vexed! I've had my decant for about three weeks and I kindof love that it still feels tumultuous and angsty. Dolores may be deadly but she's also elusive.
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Whew, ok, tell me more about his hands! 😅 This is incredibly sexy and impossibly subtle on me, given the notes. Definitely getting opoponax, clove, and leather with hits of sleek vetiver and moss. I will wear this for sure, but this is also one of those where if I caught a whiff on someone else I'd be in trouble.
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This scent is so heartbreakingly delicate! The waft is all purple lavender and sweet fig, but leaning in you can also pick up the cedar. A perfect distillation of quiet anguish.
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This is a gorgeously dark dramatic scent. Old movie/noir glam is spot on. Also agree with samanare that there's a cashmere richness to it, although I came to say that I thought the orris butter was adding something pearlescent, but both can be true. My scent brain remembered In Time of Plague having similar notes, but that blend is quite stark and severe in comparison to this richness. Black rose is featured more prominently here and I think the oud pairing helps it smell more like a living rose than a dried one. Plus the kyphi is holding its own with the tobacco note, which adds more dimension.
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I've had this bottle since December 2020 and I only realized I never reviewed it when I wanted to compare it to one of the 2024 Lupers (Roses, Pearls, and Onyx). In the bottle and freshly applied, I get a big hit of dark rose, but as it settles on my skin, rose takes second place to tobacco, which reigns throughout wear. Opoponax remains very much in the background, denying any wisp of resiny sweetness, and although the clove is equally shy, the 'bitter' descriptor of that note is apt for the scent overall. This is not a scent for the living, it is a perfectly dried funereal scent for the dead. Something for the lurking-in-graveyards genre of goth.
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For me, the teak is peak! In a joyous union with the other notes, a creamy golden teak, well and truly glowing. It smells rich, in every sense of the word. A stunner.
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When I first tested this tengu I couldn't really pick up on the peony and poppy. Now, a couple weeks later, they bring a rich, almost creamy floral heart to the scent that distinguishes it from other carnation/clove options. Only gently spiced and softly sweet, with wafts of subtle vanilla in the drydown. Lovely!
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Opens with a big bushel of lemony hay, and just keeps getting better from there. The tobacco flower gains prominence and the pepper provides a nice accent. During my first skin test, I thought I could pick out magnolia clearly, but it's less distinct today. In the drydown I get more of the amber and soft brown leather, adding a sweeter depth to balance the bright chord of top notes. It lasts all day with a low to modest throw, feels very neutral and wearable but also elevated. Thought this would be more outside my comfort zone with the tobacco flower, but I'm really enjoying it.
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this one has me all twitterpated. I was initially struck by the dramatic colors on the label art, and hesitated to purchase based on the plum note, which can go either way for me depending on the blend. I'm so glad I took the leap! the opening is unexpectedly sweet - not sugary, but fruity - as the plum and tea combine, perhaps with the silk, which I tend to have trouble isolating. seems to make the other notes silky and smooth, but perhaps there is some sweetness there as well. as it dries and wears I can detect a flirtation of lilac if I search, and the atmospheric smoky metallic scent emerges to form the backdrop of the train station. the whole composition is gorgeously balanced, but I would say it is primarily a plum-tea-silk perfume. I slathered it yesterday and it stayed with me all day long, although it doesn't have a ton of throw. something you could easily wear every day that still feels special.
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this is an odd one, it went on fizzy (champagne or soda?), then bloomed floral (something waxy like a lily?), and dried spicy (maybe ginger? cassia?). I'm not getting the soapy aspect others have mentioned but the floral backs off a lot for me on drydown. there might be a lemon or lime note hiding in there but my nose is confused by this journey.
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13-year aged red patchouli, Damascus rose resin tar, blackcurrant syrup, Egyptian myrrh, and crimson musk seed. I've been hanging out with Garnet for just a short while now. Directly out of the mail, I dabbed a bit on and could have sworn I was smelling some Snake Oil - the patchouli was forward and playing with the musk in a very familiar way. The next day, however, there were no sneaky snakes. The crimson musk seed reads like red musk on first application, which is to say, it's not shy about announcing itself, but somehow it doesn't wear the same as red musk usually does for me as it dries. Today, the third day, it's almost like a red musk playing dress up as a black musk, aided and abetted by the gorgeous myrrh. I know the analogy to the stone itself is an easy one, but I haven't found that it applies to all the other similarly inspired HM scents equally. It does here: I get different shifting glints of notes coming through the impossibly deep dark red. The myrrh and musk stand out nicely over the rich patchouli backdrop, and I definitely do not get a floral rose, but if you lean in close to it you can pick up the remains of a rose alongside the blackcurrant, and the faintest breath of sweetness. As of now it's a subtle but slinky resinous scent and I like it a lot. If I get anything much different from it in the coming months I'll try to remember to update!
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Ooh I thought I'd reviewed this one, but I must have mentioned it on a different thread or have misremembered. When I first tested this from a decant, it went a little too funky for me and I thought I was safe. But then I regretted passing the decant along, and decided to find a bottle. Now I love it, especially the way the elegant white patch and beeswax funk play off each other. It's a different sort of musk quality than honey does on its own. A sensual, personal sort of scent.
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When I tested this yesterday the first description that came to mind was "toasted beeswax," which technically doesn't make any sense, but still seems correct to me today, after wearing it all morning. It's a rich, sweet honey scent accented with vanilla, but the additional notes add a layer of complexity - a gently toasty quality - that prevent it from going too cloying for me. This also hits my sweet spot for sillage and longevity, as I'm still enjoying my personal scent bubble 6 hours in. Glad I caught up with this lovely scent after missing it last year.
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got the 2011 version as a frottle and it is so gorgeous! have to echo the "warm and smoky" vibe from Lucchesa - I find this much more cozy and sensual than I would have expected from the notes. this is going into my fav incense blends category.
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Swoon-a-roonies, this is great! If you ordered a decant it will probably be obvious that you want to roll/shake/otherwise gently agitate this oil, but even in the bottle you can see a distinct separation of components: There is definitely something magically cola-like happening, without being sticky or cloying. I love the contrast of the cool fizz of champagne with the warmth of dragon's blood and clove, accented by a flirtation of delicious cherry. But the sparkling champagne note is the star, and it lasts all day. A delight!
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I am super pleased with this one. Both oak and honey can be big notes, but they are very nicely balanced here. The strength of a big strong oak and the comfort of warm sweet honey combine into a fortifying hug of a scent that sticks with you all day. I do get a bit of nutty acorn but I'm not sure I can pick out the sap yet.
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A yummy jammy rose to layer with everything, yes please!
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This reminds me quite a lot of the Burnt Sugar and Blackberry duet, but it does have some pastry/dough peeking out. I agree that the balance strongly favors the blackberry over the apple.
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So funny reading reviews of this from when it was released that are all about caramel. Over 15 years later the caramel is pretty subtle! In its advanced age, Bad Luck Woman Blues is earthy, smoky, slightly herbal, with pleasant hits of the cologne elements and a soft, sweet background. Dries down into something quite balanced and wearable. Now to see if it works against bad luck dudes! Edited to add: just gotta repeat the previous reviewer, it smells expensive and powerful. I'm so into it!
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When I first got a decant of this scent, I was overwhelmed by the combination of rich, dense honey and rich, dense cake. Now that I've had it awhile, the richness has dialed back from 11 to 7, which allows the lavender to shine through. I agree that the honey develops a musky quality, but that is right in my wheelhouse. Very pleased to end up with such a delightful lavender honey concoction.
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This is the blend that taught me that walnut is not a good note on my skin. My first skin test was absolute 💩 so I decided to come back to it later after some rest. I was able to get a hint of chocolate croissant eventually, but for me, this is leaning into the walnut countertop for a deep whiff where you can tell it has been used for baked goods. I will tread lightly with walnut in the future!
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Chocolate and coffee (who would have known?!) are two of my favorite scent notes, and even though I prefer to drink my coffee unsweetened, the lab's coffee note seems to work best for me when it is sweetened, so I was super hype to get my nose into a bottle of a sweet, chocolatey coffee scent. Thought it would be a slam dunk, but the coffee in this blend will simply not be stopped. I have a tricky history with BPAL coffee scents so take my experience with a grain of salt. The best phase of this scent for me is right after application, I get the sweetened creamy topping, the smooth chocolatey filling, all infused with the warmth of coffee. After 20 minutes, the oil dries and the coffee takes over - all the other notes fade to the background, and the effect for me is largely the same as the lab's coffee single note. I put a generous dab into my scent locket and the yummy wet phase lasted a couple hours, but settled back into pure coffee all the same. If there is any vanilla bean in this one, it could age into something less coffee-centric, but at present it's not something I'm excited about.
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My initial notes on this were "too musty/dusty, can't find snakes," and honestly, that still holds. After having the bottle for a month, I gave it a full day's wear, and I'm still perplexed: I can't find the snake oil in this one, and it has very little throw besides. Did not even have the sneaky next-day snake that typically happens for me the day after wearing a snake oil blend. I can only assume that one or more of the other notes added here is colluding with my skin chemistry to de-snake the scent - or perhaps, as is written in the description, the bottles are too tiny to be detected, or too well-packed in cardboard. It's an interesting atmospheric blend, but it is neither what I was expecting nor something that has grown on me.
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This is a fun one for sure, but the candy and the musk actually blend together really nicely for me, to the point where it feels quite sophisticated after an hour or so. Might retest this against something like Teenage Werewolf or even Bear Moon from earlier in the year.
