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Showing results for tags 'Lupercalia 2010'.
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ENCHANTED WOOD FLORIST Arkham, MA Unmatched artistry! Skilled in terrestrial, extra-terrestrial, and dreamscape floristry, these are the only artisans on Earth that are qualified to work with Moon-trees. Please note: the Enchanted Wood Florist will not deliver to any residence or place of business where cats are present. A burst of sweet, strange flowers, luminous Moon-tree sap, and ornamental grasses. This is a really light, translucent green scent on me. It's slightly floral, but floral in a linden blossoms* type way rather than a jasmine type way - this is the type of floral I like, rather than the instantly headache-inducing white floral type that I don' t like. I can't pick out any particular note - it's just cool and soft and green and seems like it will be perfect on a rainy spring day. Very strong throw and wearlength - I only dabbed a little on my wrist and it's been wafting around me for hours. 5/5 - excellent *I don't know for sure that linden blossoms are actually one of the notes - the closest GC I can come up with is the Unicorn - this scent is very much in that vein.
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BIJOUX Y'HA-NTHLEI Innsmouth, MA New England's most exclusive jewelers since 1778. The Darlings first opened their shop in 1772 under the name Lower Innsmouth Ritual Implement and Fancy Goods Emporium, constructing sturdy household wares and cultists tools in their workshop and importing strange and fanciful items from all over the globe and points beyond. In 1777, Prudence Marsh, matriarch of the venerable Marsh family, came to the Darling twins with a request. She had obtained a sizable quantity of a strange metal alloy that her brother had acquired from an extraterrestrial ocean trench by mysterious means. She asked Absalom and Zephania Darling, twin brothers, favored disciples of Dagon, and youngest of the Darling clan-who happened to dabble in metalwork-if they could fashion a set of diadems for ceremonial use in a very important high festival honoring Mother Hydra. The brothers complied, and found that they had found that they had unparalleled natural skill with jewelry crafting, particularly with rare and strange materials. Within a generation, their graceful, fantastic, odd, and provocative bangles, bracelets, pendants, and tiaras were prized the world over by the most illustrious and nefarious princes and priests. To this day, Bijoux Y'ha-Nthlei is still family-owned and operated. Mathematically impossible, curiously irregular adornments fit to please the most discerning collector. A strangely proportioned, opulent, lustrous scent: neroli, Hawaiian ginger, white musk, tarragon, beeswax, heliotrope, yellow rose, oud, coriander, amber, and lime peel. So this was the scent from the Lupers update that I was absolutely and completely most excited for. I mean neroli, ginger, beeswax, what's not to like? What I wasn't expecting was that it would be absolutely dead sexy. I figured it would be light and bright and cheerful. And it is all those things. But it's also ridiculously sexy. Sexy in a spaghetti-strap-falling-off-the-shoulder type sexy - sexy where the sexy comes through in a flirty smile or a lifted eyebrow and a wink. This is not in-your-face sexy; this is subtle and confident. As far as the actual scent goes, it's slightly reminiscent of Vixen but without the patchouli, in that the neroli and ginger are both prominent. The beeswax is also noticeable in and of itself. The amber and musk give it a rich background. I do notice the rose, but it's not a loud rose (and I often amp rose) - the rose stays tucked in with the other florals. I don't really notice the coriander at all. Anyway, it's AMAZING, I love it, and I'm really happy to have a bottle of it. This will get a lot of use. 5/5
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Dark chocolate and key lime truffle. The Chocolatier series is very straight-forward, as I think they should be. This one is exactly as described, down to the specific (very juicy) key lime note. It's no other kind of lime, it's very much that breed. The chocolate takes more of a background here, but I think that's the nature of a citrus note in perfumery. I anticipate the lime losing its aggression just a little bit. The longer I wear it, the sweeter it gets, though it's still not a blend I'd describe primarily as sweet (not sugary at all).
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Dark chocolate, whiskey, and cognac truffle. This is pretty much what you'd expect from the description. Foodie, but with a certain refinement. The dark chocolate is full of rich, deep, velvety cocoa. The whiskey darkens it further, while the cognac offers a higher, ever-so-slightly sweeter note. The booze is very forthright. This is exactly what I wanted
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White chocolate, strawberry, and white pepper truffle. This is a bit different from last year's White Chocolate and Strawberry. The chocolate last year was more like a milk chocolate; this year's version is certainly the sweeter, less of the cocoa, white chocolate. The strawberry is not the same, either. I got more of a fresh strawberry note in WC&S; the strawberry in WC,S&WPT is more of a candied strawberry--still quite yummy, but more foodie and not so fruity. The white pepper is a nuance that keeps the truffle from becoming too overly sweet. However, this is still a wonderful perfume, although I don't think that I will hoard it like I did WC&S; but at least one back-up bottle will be required.
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AATOS POLEMOIO Insatiate of War Cedar, black currant, and saffron. I'm so impressed by how many of these Ode to Ares oils are so well blended, and Aatos Polemoio is no exception. It may be seemingly a simple scent with three notes, but it is gorgeous. It's exactly as advertised, with aromatic cedar wood, a rich currant (very much like in one of the Motley trio), and the saffron just rounding the other two notes out. This strikes me as an autumnal scent, just right for when the leaves start their change in colors.
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BROTOLOIGOS Murderous Tobacco, wenge, rose geranium, and myrrh. This one lives up to its subtitle of murderous, well, at least on my somewhat acidic skin. The geranium was quite sharp, as expected, and the wenge (a wood) was rather obvious. I had entertained hopes that the lovely tobacco and myrrh would appear and soothe the other two into some sort of calmness, but it was not to be. I really don't want to think about what happened to the tobacco and the myrrh. If you're into sharp, woody scents, Brotoloigos might be worth trying, though. It's not a fresh green wood note, but very dark.
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ANDREIPHONTÊS Destroyer of Men Tonka, benzoin, black sandalwood, and nutmeg. Truth to tell, I was somewhat concerned about the black sandalwood, as it's not a scent note that I have ever tried before, at least I think not. But no worries, as the sandalwood is present, but as a bottom note. Andreiphontes is yet another oil that's well-blended, and doesn't really morph, from the first sniff of the bottle, all the way to the dry-down. It's also another high and bright scent, which I attribute to the benzoin. The tonka adds a lovely sweetness, and the nutmeg a needed touch, just a hint mind you, of a rich spice. Another perfume oil that I would regard as unisex.
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ENKHESPALOS Spear-Wielding Elder wood, leather, blonde tobacco, and cognac. Enkhespalos is an interesting aspect of Ares--he obviously like blondes. Well, blonde tobacco, that is. That really is the dominant note for me here. The leather and wood are present, but more in the middle of things. And I was rather pleased that the cognac was not screamingly obvious; instead it serves to help blend and round out all the other notes. This is, I think, a scent that can work well on me, and even better on the bf.
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ENYALIOS Lord of War Patchouli, frankincense, olibanum, thyme, cocoa absolute, Peru balsam, oakmoss, and juniper. Enyalios was a surprise on me. It seemed very bright and high, not at all what I was expecting. At the same time, the many notes seemed well-blended in the bottle, and then on my skin while wet. As it dried down though, the juniper really amped, much to my chagrin. This will require further testing. I was so hoping that the cocoa and the Peru balsam would round out the other more intense notes in a detectable sort of way, and perhaps they did, but juniper trumped all.
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KHALKOKORUSTÊS Armed With Bronze Champaca, pear, cedar, black pepper, jasmine, and red sandalwood. I love pear, and I haven't tried many blends with it as a note, so I was anxious to try Khalkokorustes. Mostly what I got out of this was the pear, the cedar (lovely aroma), and the red sandalwood. There was a hint of pepper, and that was what was probably keeping this oil from being too (not the best word, but I can't think of anything better at the moment) sweet (not foodie sweet) and maybe the champaca as well, so that everything seem to be blended beautifully in the bottle, and stayed that way throughout. I did not detect jasmine, so those of you who amp jasmine might try testing this. For me, I think this will be bottle-worthy.
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KHRYSOPÊLÊX Helmed in Gold Caraway, amber, saffron, bergamot, and neroli. Here's another that I was dubious of trying. Only the neroli is a good note on me under usual circumstances. Amber is a love, but sometimes turns to powder, and bergamot can become sharpish. Now that I've gone over the failings of my skin chemistry, no surprise here, this really didn't work on me. As expected the neroli sweetened the blend up, but the caraway was very very present, with its usual anise-like scent. (One that I don't like nor does it like me.) As this dried down, the amber became powdery. A ote seemingly missing was the bergamot, so that was surprising. I will say that this has a golden quality to it, because of the saffron, but I would not compare it to, say, Gold Phoenix. If the amber and the neroli had been more dominant, this could have been very nice. Anything like a little anise on me goes a long way.
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MIAIPHONOS Blood-Stained Clove, anise, mandarin, and cumin. What this reminds me of is a cloved orange. It's a Yule tradition in some places. You basically core little holes into the fresh ripe orange in a spiral path, and then place whole cloves in those cuts. Then you wrap a pretty ribbon around the orange, along the path in-between the cloves, leaving a long loop at the top, and hang it on a hook. Lovely smell throughout the holidays. Seriously, I didn't pick up a lot of cumin or anise when this was wet. In the much later stage of the dry-down, they are more present, as though the cloved orange had been hanging in your kitchen for a while, and was starting to dry out, and had picked up some spices. It's a mild perfume oil, and could make a lovely Yuletide scent, especially in an oil burner. The mandarin orange is the dominant note, but it's not overwhelming as citrus can be sometimes. The clove and orange work together to make a lovely scent.
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RHINOTOROS Skin-Piercing Vetiver, patchouli, white pepper, and grapefruit. I must admit that I was a little hesitant to try Rhinotoros. Pepper, patch, and vetiver? I imagined that they would all combine to overwhelm the yummy grapefruit. My fears were somewhat unfounded. The grapefruit tames those three notes to such an extent that this is not a dark and dusky scent. Strangely enough, for what I might consider a somewhat masculine perfume oil, this dries down to a balancing act amongst the four notes, with the sparkle of the grapefruit giving Rhinotoros a lighter feeling than expected. (This is not sweet at all; remember that a lot of people put sugar or honey on grapefruit sections to eat them. I'm reminded more of unsweetened pink grapefruit juice in the carton. No sugar or honey here, just the juice. Btw, I like unsweetened grapefruit juice.)
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THOOS Swift Tangerine, cypress, and white musk. When I first opened the bottle, and took a sniff, the tangerine was the only note present. It's a wonderful note, and I'm always glad to see it in a BPAL oil. It smells just like a freshly unzipped tangerine, only condensed into a little amber bottle. Once applied to the skin, the musk and cypress come out to play from where-ever they were hiding. They keep the citrus in check, so that one doesn't smell just like they just finished eating a tangerine. As this dries down, the fruit note is not so dominant any more; in fact, all three notes blend well together, with the result being greater than the sum of its parts. (I noticed the same fading away and blending of the tangerine note in Lilith vs. the Giant Crab, even though that was a tangerine cream.) Right now, I'm getting a little more cypress out of the blend than anything else. If you liked Lilith vs. the Giant Crab, but wanted something lighter and not so sweet, do give Thoos a try.
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THOUROS Furious Rose otto, lychee, and cistus absolute. First. let me say that this is lovely, from first sniff to dry-down. Cistus, according to the wiki, is also known as rockrose, although it shares that common name with several other flowers. Its leaves produce labdanum, btw. The rose otto is very prominent in the bottle and on my wrist, even hours later. For some reason, I think that this may be the damask rose, which I have smelt before. The lychee fruit adds a touch of sweetness, and is probably, in my case, keeping the rose in check. (I sometimes amp rose.) The rose is soft, maybe like a dusty pink rose. It's not light like a white rose or a tea rose, but it's not the dark rose of The Peacock Queen, but somewhere in-between. (Also added value: no green stems in cold water that I get with Red Rose.) Thouros reminds me a little of The Rose, from the Marchen, but it's lusher and deeper than that rose. This doesn't seem to be a rose newly blooming in a garden, but at its fullness, just before it is cut. And then someone dipped it in sugar syrup so they could feed it to their pony. (Note: there's no aquatic notes here.)
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WOMB FURIE In the middle of the flanks of women lies the womb, a female viscus, closely resembling an animal; for it is moved of itself hither and thither in the flanks, also upwards in a direct line to below the cartilage of the thorax and also obliquely to the right or to the left, either to the liver or spleen; and it likewise is subject to falling downwards, and, in a word, it is altogether erratic. It delights, also, in fragrant smells, and advances towards them; and it has an aversion to fetid smells, and flees from them; and on the whole the womb is like an animal within an animal. -- Aretaeus the Cappadocian Oh, that wily womb! Hippocrates and his followers considered the womb a mobile creature, causing mayhem as it writhed its way through a woman's body. Sometimes this ornery organ, due to lack of sexual activity, would create conflicts within a woman's system or would become blocked itself, causing anxiety, nervousness, water retention, and sleeplessness. With the assistance of doctors, nursemaids, hand tools, or, occasionally, self-manipulation, this vexing condition could be alleviated through hysterical paroxysms. Or, as we call it nowadays: orgasm. An itch that needs to be scratched: Snake Oil and three types of honey. To be honest, and snake oil have a less than great record. Straight up snake oil makes me deal with two hours of annoying spice before it gives me the soft vanilla, and none of the Snake pit were a success. This however, has PROMISE!!! The honey cuts out the harshness that the indonesian oils do when they're on my skin, and they're not taking over. I can still tell i'm wearing snake oil, but it's got some honey underneath. The honey and the vanilla also last for a long time, so i'm definetly not getting the disappearing act that I usually associate with snake oil blends. I highly recommend giving it a try!!
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Honey, quince, vanilla, white cognac, Spanish mandarin, and golden tobacco. This started out reminding me of Peach Moon, a soft ripe fruit, but as it dried down, the fruit became less promient, but the softness continued. It's like......... as i'm smelling it, all my worries go away. It's like i'm being wrapped in a lovely blanket. And it's long lasting.....been going for 6 hours strong!
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I feel thy blood against my blood; my pain Pains thee, and lips bruise lips, and vein stings vein. Let fruit be crushed on fruit, let flower on flower Breast kindle breast, and either burn one hour. Why wilt thou follow lesser loves? are thine Too weak to bear these hands and lips of mine? The scent of the throes of violent passion: entangled limbs, teeth on flesh, furiously grasping hands, the taste of blood and sweat. Golden amber, white honey, red currant, daemonorops, kush, and Arabian musk. OMG, am I the first to review a scent? Awesome! This has to be my favorite so far of the new Lupercalias! It's actually not as heavy as I imagined it, but is a rather light, golden scent. This reminds me more of the afterglow of violent passion than the actual act itself. On the skin, the most prominent note is the golden amber, which smells very much like the amber in Aglaea. The currant isn't evident at all (unfortunately) while the honey only lends a tiny bit of sweetness to the blend. While the kush doesn't dominate the blend on my skin, it does lend a heady air to the scent. At drydown, this threatens to go a bit powdery on my skin, and now I can also detect the daemonorops in the background; however, the amber and musk remain the primary notes... which suits me just fine, because it's delicious. I think this will age very well, and hopefully the currant will come forward with time. This is going to warrant multiple bottles to put away to age, and I hope it becomes a returning favorite! ETA: After having aged for 8 months, I think I can safely say I was right about what a little age has done for this one -- it's amazing. The musk has (sadly) toned down a bit, but luckily so has the kush which was taking over during drydown. It's mellowed and rounded out, the honey's made it a tad sweeter... guh.
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THE PERFUMED GARDEN Under her neck my right hand Has served her for a cushion, And to draw her to me I have sent out my left hand, Which bore her up as a bed. The Perfumed Garden for the Soul's Recreation. This scent is based on a venerable Tunisian perfume that was used to excite the senses, inspire sensuality and inflame passion. Myrrh and Moroccan jasmine with apple peel, Indian sandalwood, myrtle, quince, citron, and thyme poured over soft musk. Sniffing from the bottle: The apple peel jumps out at me right away...which just about thrills me right out of my seat. Upon application: Sweet tart fruits (mostly apple!) with just the slightest hint of jasmine. Juicy and lovely. After a few minutes: The jasmine starts to peek out more, as does the myrhh. Usually I'm not a fan of myrhh, but this myrhh is SO soft and sweet and gentle that it's really just a nice complement to the fruity jasmine. It just smooths it out. A few minutes after that: Interestingly the jasmine just about disappears. I'm used to jasmine being an overpowering note, but it's not in this blend. I would say that the two dominant notes (on me) are apple and myrhh....although I can tell that they're wrapped up in a soft musk hug. Conclusion: Sweet and soft like a cloud. Surprisingly innocent. Romantic and lovely.
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What a great freakin' word. BPAL LOVES TEH SMUT! Three swarthy, smutty musks sweetened with sugar and woozy with dark booze notes. BPAL loves teh smut! I know Beth warned us about this one, that it'd smell a bit aggressive in the bottle but is positively wonderful once on. I haven't smelt Sed Non Satiata yet, which is the scent Beth said this is a lot like, so I have no basis for comparison there. Sorry, guys? In the bottle, yes, it's definitely aggressive. It almost smells like Robitussin cough syrup - that same boozy, quasi-fruity medicinal quality. It has the potential to be sexy, though, I can definitely see/smell that. Smut immediately sweetens when it hits my skin. It's pretty much musky sugar sweetness after a few drinks, precisely what the description says. There's no more medicinal smell to be had, but it's definitely warmer - do I smell vanilla? Very sophisticated and womanly, almost reminiscent of Jean-Paul Gaultier, only without the headache J-P gives me. A seductive, sophisticated, heady, little-black-dress-and-stilettos, 'take me now' scent. I love teh smut. If you haven't already, GET SOME. 9/10. P.S. Throw is amazingly good.
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Piss off, Saint Valentine! Lupercalia is an ancient Roman celebration, held on February 15th, that kicked in the advent of Spring with a very, very festive purification, fertility and sexuality ritual. The ritual began near the cave of Lupercal on the Palatine, an area sacred to Faunus, as well as Ruminia, Romulus and Remus. During Lupercalia, Vestal Virgins first made offerings of sacred cakes to the fig tree under which the she-wolf suckled the Sacred Twins. A dog and two goats were then offered in sacrifice to Faunus. The blood of the sacrifice was smeared onto two naked patrician youths, who were assisted by the Virgins, and the blood was wiped clean with sacred wool dipped in milk. The youths donned the skins of the sacrificial goats, wielding whips made from the goat skins, and then led the priests and the Virgins around the pomarium, and around the base hills of Rome. This was a ceremony of great happiness and merriment, and was of particular interest to young women: being touched by the goat-whips young men that led the procession ensured their fertility in the coming year. It is believed that, after the initial rite, male participants would draw the name of an available maiden, with whom he spent the rest of the night. This scent is for the Luperci, the Chosen of Faunus, the Brothers of the Wolf: raw, down and dirty patchouli, Gurjam balsam, and essence of Sampson Root sweetened with the heightened sexuality of beeswax, virile juniper, oakmoss, ambrette seed over honey and East African musk. ... am I really the first? Oh dear! Stage fright. In the bottle: Patchouli, smacking me in the nose! Beeswax, moss, earthy, dirty, powerful. The husband likes this. Wet on skin: Patchouli and juniper, with a honey-sweet undertone, but the sharp woody note is on top. Dry on skin: Patchouli and a heavy, sweet musk. Juniper's still there, but the musk is overpowering it. Over time: Woody and sweet and musky. This is a heavy, woody, honey-sweet scent; patchouli likes me, as usual, and is sticking around as the strongest note. The juniper has receded almost entirely, leaving me with only a quiet sharpness in the woody scent to remind me of its presence. Overall: I expected to like this, and I'm not disappointed. It's a very earthy, sexy kind of scent, not a pretty or delicate scent; this is precisely what I wanted and expected out of it. Elf still likes it, too. Bonus. I used to wear patchouli straight, but I like this more; it's more complex and appealing. 4.5/5 - not hoarding like I do with Geek, but I'm glad I got a bottle, so it will last me a nice long time.
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