Leopard403
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Everything posted by Leopard403
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I bought a decant of this because I, too, am confused by the idea of ruby chocolate. Smelling this scent does not create any clarity whatsoever. Sniffing from the decant I smelled something cocoa-based, but that is not true on my skin, even on first application. I’m in my red musk era and that tends to drown out other notes, but I’m not getting that clarion call here, either. I don’t know, this kind of smells like sweetened red wine? Sangria sans overt fruit? I actually quite like it, but I can’t make any damn sense of it. In some way it is familiar; it reminds me a bit of Blood Countess, which I adore.
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Another hibiscus Luper! (And I’ll say again: I didn’t know hibiscus had a scent LOL.) This is a candy floral on me, like if the floral notes were put into a Jolly Rancher-type hard candy, or someone just handed you a sweetened hibiscus tea infusion over crushed ice. Honey can turn too unctuous on my skin, but the scent here just reads as “sweet” on top of a juicy flower smell. It’s slightly green, too. Very refreshing and lasts a surprisingly long time!
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I’m in my red musk era, but I find that other musks are quite tricky. I was hoping that “russet” meant more red-leaning here but I definitely get more of a brown musk that is likely heightened by the patchouli. Not a lot of red here despite the other notes. I don’t get anything that’s honey-like either, nothing sweet or even unctuous as is typical from lab honey notes. This lasts a very long time on my skin, but it’s essentially a commercial perfume musk.
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Right before I started grad school back in the aughts, I worked at a candle and knick-knack shop who did major business with Yankee Candle. I loved that job, but those candles ruined me for life on certain scents. This lab blend, for example, is straight up YC Tulips. I’ve found this to be the case with several floral lab blends, often in the Luper line. It’s not a smell I dislike, but once that connection is made in my brain that’s all it can ever be. I wish I got lily or lilac here, but that bright red wax will always haunt me.
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My first whiff was that bubblegummy lotus but that was gone quickly. This identifiably smells “like flowers” but it’s grounded by a whiff of strawberry Nesquick powder. Hint of something buttery from the iris, hint of spice from the carnation, hint of something green from the peony. It’s really nicely blended.
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Rose Milk is surprisingly gourmand! The almond milk froth and the tapioca do wonderful things together, almost a spongey almond coffee cake sort of vibe. The rose is there and while it’s probably pink (maybe white? It’s definitely not red rose) there is nothing “flowery” or dainty about this scent overall. Lasts a nice long time on my skin as well. I’m into it.
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Surprisingly nutty, and warmer in the decant than on the skin (which is a bummer). I’ve recently identified fig as a love-hate note for me and here the note leans slightly too commercial perfume, but it’s fairly well grounded by the champaca and the toasted notes and roasted coconut. I can smell every note in this blend, which is very cool, but it harmonizes well. Happy with my decant for now and I might seek another, but I don’t need a whole bottle.
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Full disclosure: I do not like cherry blossom as a scent note. For me it’s somehow entirely antithetical; it’s delicate in such an overt way it’s almost aggressive with it, which is just weird and f*cking confusing. But then, dammit, this blend comes along with other notes that sound so delightful I have to try it. I’m glad I took a chance because that “blush marshmallow” note is ridiculously good, and the cherry blossom note is top-only so it’s gone from the skin in a second. Sadly, with the amber alongside, those strawberries turn a little too shortcake doll on me after about ten minutes of wear. Verdict: Can we get a Blush Marshmallow single note/duet?
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I bought a decant of this because I didn’t know hibiscus had a scent. This is a light, green floral scent, with juicy dampness. Ephemeral like spring in both smell and staying power: this one is gone quickly.
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Sniffed from the decant: Yep, it’s one of those creamy pink scents from the lab that I love so much, sort of a rosewater buttercream. No sign of musk. On my skin: Despite having no notes in common this reminds me a lot of Tiki Princess, so clearly my nose is reading something “cold coconut” about it. Not unpleasant but I’m surprised!
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This is strangely evocative for me, because it smells just like the cold, foggy air in The Haunted Mansion at Disney. Like, uncanny.
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Sniffing from the decant: Yep, lavender and lemon. Slightly herbaceous, slightly tart. On my skin: Much more lemon than lavender (yay!) and a dessert kind of lemon, not cleaning product lemon (YAY!). Exactly what I was hoping for and I’m sad I didn’t buy more last year.
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For the first few minutes on my skin, LL is extremely sour. The herbal floral wars with the yeasty bread and it almost smells like something in the cupboard has gone bad. After that initial settling period the scent is pretty magical, very “dried lavender hanging above the warm bread oven, and I think the person standing nearby might be a witch,” but dang it’s hard to make it through the early moments.
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Promotes vigor in undeath, and relieves the discomforts and complaints so common to incorporeal spirits! The learned and eminent scholar Alessandro Cagliostro once remarked, “Long experience has taught me to prize Doctor Constantine’s Compounds above all others!” Crushed violets, red currant, patchouli root, and Spanish moss. A rooty, earthy scent, this is not your typical light, sugary violet. It is dark and seductive. The patchouli root acts as an herbal base note, and I'm not sure my nose likes it. I will have to wear this a while and report back.
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There is something about Fuchsia Eyes that reminds me of my beloved Blood Countess. It’s not a dupe or a replacement, but maybe a much younger half-sibling. I definitely smell raspberry here but it’s *evil* raspberry (sorry if that makes more sense in my brain than it does out loud LOL). For a scent where only three notes are named, it is surprisingly complex, and not overtly “fruity” in any notable way despite the scent description. There’s something unexpected and wonderful happening here. What a lovely little surprise.
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Over time the Lilith blend Motherhood has been something of a signature scent of mine, and it might’ve just been bumped aside by SITBS. It’s interesting considering I cannot wear the original SO on its own. It just doesn’t like me. But the addition of sweet things makes it perfectly perfect. SITBS clearly has jammy berries—no fresh picked fruit here!—and a slight butteriness that must be the bakery bits. I was a little worried the molasses would be too overt, but it slithers in the background and intermingles well with the SO notes. This is very well blended, and manages to be both a fruit-forward and exceptionally grounded gourmand. I might need a second bottle (and I very rarely buy backups). Two thumbs way up.
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Pink Moon: Marshmallow and Candyfloss Hair Gloss
Leopard403 replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Hair
This is the marshmallow note that turns a little salty to my nose, and I’m not getting any candy floss at all. I’m really bummed. -
So I’m gonna have to retest Cosmic Critters—probably multiple times. I first sniffed it straight out of the mailbox, which isn’t the wisest idea in VA in July, but it is what it is. That first sniff gave me Golletes. ? Pastry and pink sugar. Say what?! I let the bottle sit in the house A/C for a day and tried again. Golletes. This time on the dry-down I got something like Lilith’s lavender in the background. Um, okay. I’m about to test again with a good slathering and see how we fare, but I wonder if this is one of those experiences where it’s my *mind* smelling, and not my nose, and that first impression is gonna stick. Not complaining because I love and miss Golletes, but super duper weird. Glad I bought a bottle, both for the scent experience and the cause. ?
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Marshmallow root, cream vanilla, Roman chamomile, and cocoa butter. Oh, my. Recollection is so lovely. One of the TP's gentler-smelling bath oils, and I mean that in the best way possible. It's a bit un-quantifiable. Not like, say, Peacock Queen, where you "smell like roses," or Pumpkin Pie Ice cream where you smell, well, exactly like pumpkin pie ice cream. No. Recollection is more of a soft skin scent, where the compliment is simply "Oh. Oh, you smell good" and you can purr a bit with the knowledge that you most certainly do. I used Recollection in the bath, applied to my wet skin. In the bottle and during initial application, the fuzzy marshmallow root was front and center, a fraternal twin to the Lab scent Stekkjarstaur. Love. As the oil warms on the skin, it takes on the creaminess of Boo, luckily without the salty under-tang I sometimes got from Boo itself. Then in the bath, a soft tea scent hangs close to the skin. Now that I am dry and warm, I notice the cocoa butter most, though the hints of all the other notes linger, too. I'm really in love. Recollection is delightful as a standalone scent, but it would easily work under perfume oils or hair gloss scents without overwhelming anything. Basically, it's the way I wish I smelled naturally, all the time.
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Reminiscent of Fruitbat Fruit Bath BO from back in the day, this is a bag of translucent hard candies, mostly of the orange and yellow variety but with a couple reds and greens for good measure.
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Tea roses and shortbread. Cinq will be a sleeper hit, I think. It certainly surprised me. I was picturing delicate pink roses and dainty cakes, but this is actually quite bold. Another of Une Douzaine de Roses that made me moan aloud upon first sniff from the bottle. There nothing grandma-like about these roses, and the blooms (not just pink, by the way!) are grounded by a slight but lovely butteryness without being identifiably foody (if that makes sense to anyone else). No, this is not a gourmand blend at all. Instead the floral and not-quite-cakey notes blend into something just delightful, youthful and fun without being "too young," robust without being cloying. Another blind bottle win for me! eta: Actually, the more I wear this, the more I realize that the rose here has an awful lot in common with the rose in Peacock Queen. So there's that.
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The first whiff of this sent me to the internet in search of the apple blossom shampoo I used as a teen. (If there are any hints out there please PM me because I couldn’t find anything!) Wet on the skin, it’s still mostly that scent with a bit of a green grassy note behind it. Lavender often eats everything else on my skin, and one hour into a test wear and I don’t smell lavender *at all* nor do I get anything “crimson.” I can find a little lilac if I really search for it. Sadly, this seems to be fading rather quickly. It sits very close to the skin to begin with, with not a lot of sillage, and it definitely goes faint pretty rapidly. I’m going to try it in a locket to see if I can get more staying power, because I really do love the apple blossom scent.
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Lemon Peel, Gardenia, and Carnation
Leopard403 replied to Seajewel's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
While this is not quite what I hoped it would be, I am in love with it! I’ve been on a mission for lemon-forward scents for some time and was excited when this was launched. Sniffing from the decant, I get a quick burst of a pithy (not juicy) lemon, and that lasts for a moment on the skin but then it’s gone. So that’s a bummer. However, the scent that lingers is really lovely. I’m a big fan of gardenia, so I’m aware of its tendency to screech that high-pitched floral and totally dominate a blend, but wow, it pairs with carnation in the most glorious way. Carnation tends to go spicy to me, almost clove-y if left uncontrolled, but it too is tempered by the other floral here. I’d almost call this “White Carnation.” It’s a little soapy, sure, but that’s not a bad thing here. Somehow it’s a clean floral with something ever-so-slightly aquatic, and not at all something where you’ll get the feedback that “you smell like flowers.” It’s quite a fantastically complicated smell given how straightforward it’s three notes can be! Moderate throw and long lasting, I think I’m going to grab a bottle. -
LA VITA NUOVA Dante Alighieri In that book which is My memory... On the first page That is the chapter when I first met you Appear the words... Here begins a new life Apple blossom, white rose, lemon balm, and champagne grape. This is a bubbly, fruity scent with bite: Not too floral or citrussy, not too warm or too cold. A perfect springtime scent, very fresh and clean and unobtrusive.
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When sniffed from the decant, this is amazing. Real, actual maraschino cherry—not a whiff of cherry cough syrup to be found—and fresh bright fluffy marshmallow. The problem? Even with a good slather, this does not exist on my skin. It doesn’t fade, it’s like I never put it on in the first place.