LavenderCoffee
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Everything posted by LavenderCoffee
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apologies, but I cannot resist being the first to say: Lestat Lestat Lestat Lestat Lestat! this is an intoxicatingly magnetic musk. like eyes-rolling-back levels of deliciousness. I wonder if Beth was already thinking of Lestat when she blended the 2024 Wolf Moon, bc I'm picking up some of that dna in this glorious composition. it really opens up on my skin after 30 mins or so, and reads quite warm to me, leaving no doubt about the leonine inspiration. the leather and liquor notes don't draw as much as focus as they have for me in other scents, but they are absolutely present in the blend. I also want to say the church wood might be oak? but I could be entirely wrong on that. everything threads together beautifully, and OF COURSE there's a generous amount of sillage. I just love everything about it.
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Nicki's scent is so terribly charming, even/especially with the melancholy thread of chilled silver amber running through it. there is sweetness from the beeswax and wine, gently rounded out with wood and purple florals. I almost want to say there's a dampness to the violet and/or iris, a gentle aquatic quality of tears. he brings a perfect balance of beauty and sorrow that smells gorgeous on its own, but is also appropriately devastating when worn with Lestat.
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as soon as I saw espresso and wool in this I knew I needed it. it's an incredibly comforting blend for such an acerbic character! and of course we love to love grumpy Daniel, and of course I was going to get this perfume anyway! the paperback note sits perfectly on top of the scent. I'll caveat that did not get to sniff Old Books and a Flat White from the most recent Yule release, but this may be the best coffee and book scent I've ever smelled. plus the wool really is like a coat wrapped all around it, keeping everything together. it calls back to Cafe au Lait & a Wool Blanket from 2019, but of course Daniel has a more lived-in quality that makes it suuuper wearable. gonna get tons of mileage out of this in general but especially in the fall and winter.
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slightly feral and gloriously (perfectly) genderless. soft leather, sage, and a hint of perfume in the cool woods, all in impeccable balance. a blur of silvery hair through the silvery air. I was nervous about this one bc I have a tough time with sage sometimes, but it wears beautifully and I'm so glad to have it.
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this is not a scent I would have picked out for myself had it not been associated to Armand, but it beautifully captures his contradictions, and now that I have it I will definitely be wearing it. an elegant and slightly ominous blend that creates a gradient on the skin from pale iris to blackened clove, like "oops! all grey area" but make it art, and it's arresting. I wanna say there's an elusive dark heart of woody oud to this, but it's the shifting swirl of soft clove and incense that draw focus.
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Louis is a stunner! but we all knew that. it just so happens that this fragrance is also perfect and gorgeous like Geminirubyshoes said above - the perfect notes for him, in the perfect balance. I may be biased of course, because I will always love a vetiver patchouli base, but the artistry!! of everything else layered over it takes my breath away. the interplay of the florals and the bay rum with the sandalwood and the coffee is to die for. I always wear a little bit of perfume oil under my shirt and some on my neck and wrists, and I can smell different aspects of the scent in the different spots - if you get some on or under fabric, it holds onto the floral and bay rum longer, and the scent on exposed skin goes a bit smokier and darker. it's kinda posh and kinda brooding and totally swoonworthy, so all in all, very Louis! my fav of the character scents released so far.
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Vampire DJ of Some Renown
LavenderCoffee replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Anne Rice's The Vampire Lestat
renowned for smelling great, this vamp of all trades has a truly versatile fragrance, reflecting a savviness across centuries. the rum note is deployed deftly to connect the ozonic top notes to the rest of the composition without going boozy, and I actually get some of the blood too. were you dancing in the club or brawling in the halls? no one will know. but do not sleep on this DJ, VDJOSR is wearable as hell. -
had a bit of a kombucha meme experience with Long Face. at first it was very OH NO MISTAKES WERE MADE but then very quickly I arrived at WAIT WTF how is the greasepaint making this sexier?! so even tho this advice is good advice for all perfume oils, I want to say this one especially benefits from rest and a skin test to get the measure of it. between the ambergris and the leather and the greasepaint there is definitely a bit of funkiness to the blend, but I find it nicely balanced with the frankincense/velvet/orris. the internet rabble (inc me) who were excitedly clicking on fan photos from filming locations seemed to think the pants were chartreuse, and I wonder if a brighter pop of color than gold would have been interesting here, but there is a beautiful velvety quality to this scent regardless of the color. and it adds an element of timelessness in conjunction with the ambergris, like you could just as easily imagine Lestat as a rockstar or as Lelio while wearing this and it fits either way.
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Butterscotch Bitch
LavenderCoffee replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Anne Rice's The Vampire Lestat
I keep wanting to make a dad joke about how this was made in a lab for me (in an alchemy lab! made to order for me!), but man oh MAN this butterscotchy woodsmoke is my absolute jam. can I live in this scent? will they keep making it for always? the more I smell it the more I'm amazed at the artistry, which is common with BPAL, but when it is also a blend that feels perfect for me, I am simply goggled. it's so much MORE than just butterscotch and woodsmoke: the cognac and saffron are exquisite in this. very evocative of the red yellow pinky purple of the label, and terribly sexy. -
if you know and love the BPAL champagne, that fizzy delight arrives up front with a nice accent of plum. the licorice really comes out on the skin, and then you have plum accented licorice champagne, which was not a thing I knew I needed until right now. and thanks to the lovely dark resins holding everything down, it won't disappear into the night. I don't get much in the way of leather from this personally, but it's absolutely delicious. ETA the resinous drydown is EPIC I love this one so much!!
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Recommendations- Spicy florals
LavenderCoffee replied to DrunkForestNymph's topic in Recommendations
these three are impable now: A-Rovin - A perfume for mistresses and masters of a very specific trade: sultry red musk, heady jasmine, tobacco leaf, red sandalwood, hay sugar, golden honey, sweet carnations, and warm leather. The Grindhouse - Florentine iris, red musk, mimosa, magnolia, Damascus rose, clove, and vanilla bean. Inez - Golden amber, vanilla musk, myrrh, cedar, carnation, and red sandalwood. and these are not: Eve - Her scent is one that travels through the eons: the Irish moss, yarrow, and hawthorn of the Iron Age Britons, ancient Rome’s omphacium and honey, myrrh and calamus from Egypt, the frankincense and damask roses of the Florentine Renaissance, white sandalwood from the Far East, Moroccan saffron and rose water, and a swirl of incense from the souks. Hal - Saffron-infused bourbon vanilla, blackened honey, Kashmir wood, Atlas cedar, ambrette seed, hay, and Egyptian jasmine absolute. On Imagination - The unbounded soul: a vibrant, airy, uplifted amber with smoked vanilla and coconut, tuberose, orange blossom, wildflower honey, and sheer musk. -
I was reluctant to try this one because I already have cardamom scents I like and bourbon cream scents I like and I *probably* didn't need this combo? but I snagged a sample anyway and it's lovely! comes across a bit more gourmand than I would have expected with the incense involved, although I have been using a cocoa butter lotion bar lately. hangs out all day but loses intensity after the first four hours or so, which is a good showing for a shunga imo. I think I will stick with DILF for my bourbon cream fix tho!
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I am baffled by folks reporting brewed tea, I am smelling tea leaves that have never met boiling water. but that's the magic of skin chemistry! and the tea doesn't reveal itself immediately. London Smoke opens with a poof of almost powdery floral, which subsides quickly, and I would not call the scent powdery overall. the early wear is like a ghost of a funeral bouquet in a grey amber shroud. to be clear I don't think there are lilies or roses present, but the floral feels like more than just tabac flower, at least by comparison to other tobacco flower notes, and I'm not sure if this note is meant to be distinct from that. maybe it's just black tea leaves coming forward in the fougere. and maybe this fougere has more of a hay type note to it, and I'd believe a drop of bergamot. but I don't think oakmoss is in the building. the amber softness subsides in the drydown, and this is where the tea leaves seem to assert themselves through the sepia floral. delightfully it all feels very gothic romance, very softly haunted, very wistful. if tea leaves had a ghost form, perhaps it could be tea steam, drifting in a mysterious direction revealing a concealed cobwebbed passage. it wears like a layering note or a skin scent to me, but my skin mostly disappeared the Grey Columns as well, so as always ymmv. anyway I absolutely want to wear and layer this, it's captivating.
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Hi!! I am also super into the smoky goodness. Hearthflame and Incense is a good one for sure, the only sweetness in that is from the pipe tobacco which is rather cozy. Bonfire Single Note is a banger, has a sharper leaves and pine sort of slant to it. Die Flamme Reinigt Sich Vom Rauch is nutty and smoky. and my faaavorite is Burn Pile, just unabashedly smoky smoke delish with background resins. these are all limited editions that you might be able to find secondhand. for currently available items, Witches Burn Back is a gorgeously resinous smoky scent, less of the outdoors to that one. Djinn has a bit of ambery sweetness which makes it a more polite smoky scent. my imp may be older tho, so idk if it has lost any of its intensity. Beth also does incredible pine pitch and burgundy pitch notes you might enjoy, which also turn up in the firey smoky scents.
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I have a gift card and anxiety over what to get
LavenderCoffee replied to fallwcyc's topic in Recommendations
what's one you know you like and one you know you don't like? that might help folks recommend more options. and you might check out the sales and swaps section of the forum if you haven't yet. of course you can't spend your gift card there, but lots of folks end up with things that don't work for them, so you can still turn your "no thanks" bottle into some cash or a different scent that becomes a favorite. -
struggling to articulate anything different than what is already in the description: "sharp green opening ✅ that quickly settles into dry soil ✅, resin, and a faint sweetness ✅ reminiscent of sap and old wood. There is a subtle heat to it, peppery ✅ without being hot, and a clean bitterness ✅ that reads as clarifying rather than harsh." not really a scent that projects much, but still has its own sort of presence.
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"O lady, my heart" indeed! she really had me at rose resin, but every single other note enhances and complements it perfectly. not too much of any one thing: touch of fig, sprig of thyme, dab of orris, drop of olive, smudge of myrrh. to the point that it's almost not a rose scent, it's a poem. soft and subtle and lovely.
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I wanted to try all the new Inspiration category scents so I just snagged imps of each one. I don't always love red musk or orangey scents tho, so I wasn't anticipating swooning so hard for this! it reminds me of a shunga from 2024 that I love (Hallway of a Train Station) but the sparkling mandarin takes the place of lilac cologne, making it sufficiently different to covet, slightly more summer appropriate, and irresistibly sniffable! if smoky plum with a pop sounds good to you, I recommend giving this one a try.
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This apricot is pleasant but subdued, kinda jammy with a touch of smoke. did not get much soil. the hay blends in gorgeously with the amber and fruit, and there is a subtle mentholated chill to the scent.
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I got a bit more of the orchid the first time I tested this, but on 2nd test, it lurks in the periphery with the earthy tobacco flower while the vetiver and oud take center stage. it's not a barnyard oud, the vetiver is a grassier one, and although the composition does lean toward a standard vetiver fragrance, I think the orchid keeps it interesting.
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I am enjoying this a lot more than I thought I would. The sesame/hazelnut/patch combo is coming across as a unified front that dries down into something resembling ...weed? And it's awesome? It's not quite like the lab's usual cannabis note but there's definitely a terpenic sort of quality that is noticably different than a dank patchouli. Also full disclosure: I don't really partake anymore so don't hate me if I'm way off base. Just give this one a try!
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a burst of juicy grapefruit up front transitions into a perky velvety pink ...no, I'm serious! it's nose tickling, soft, and a bit tangy.
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my first blind test of this I wrote "plum peony grapefruit?" but of course it's a happy little salted yuzu sitting on top! and the wine note blends in very nicely with this palette. it's almost like a posh sangria with flowers in it, and I don't get a whole lot from the cedarwood/patchouli end of things. brilliant blend.
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this is absolutely stunning. it's pretty darn close to Glowing Vulva but it has gorgeous dollop of LILAC! the spiced honey is only very delicately spiced, and the tolu balsam sort of snugs up to the teak, and do not fear the polished amber! it doesn't smell fume-y or lacquer-y to me at all. I could do with a bit more lilac cream, but it does bloom out nicely on the skin. the scent overall is rather subtle: not quite as soft as a "your skin but better," but like a pair of fancy knickers, you might be the only one to enjoy it unless you plan to get up close and personal.