Luperci

[AmyAngel]

... 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.

Luperci: '07, I think, from a swap. In the imp it smells like, pefumey musk, which always reminds me of my grandmother. She had a mirrored tray of perfumes on her dresser, and this reminds me of them. On, it starts the same, but a bit of wood quickly emerges. I'm having a hard time picking out individual notes, but I like it! Each sniff is slightly different. Now there's a hint of the honey sweetening it slightly. This is very well blended, I like it a lot. It makes me think of the outdoors, yet it is sophisticated at the same time.

Somehow it keeps making me think of paper. It's sweeter and warmer than the smell of paper, but there's a sort of dryness to it to my nose. It's probably just the patchouli, or maybe the beeswax, who knows. Whatever it is, I like it. I'll definitely be keeping the imp, and if this comes back next year I'll be buying a bottle. I talked myself out of it this year, unfortunately.

It seems to get more musky as time goes on, still sweet, but sexier! Edited April 18, 2007 by Shollin

[Dinerdulcinea]

Luperci 2007

 

imp: floral babypowder. blech.

wet: same, with a hint of musk.

dry: the worst babypowder floral ickyness evah!! With a nasty SOMETHING in it too. EEEEEWWWWW!!

 

ETA: LUPERCI 2006

imp: MUSKY! Mmmm!

wet: The feral smell is a little less...now more powdery but also more cologne-like

dry: Mega-mega men's cologne-y.

NAH

Edited May 9, 2007 by Dinerdulcinea

[Taniwha]

I just got a bottle of this on eBay, and it's the 2006 version. I wasn't sure I was going to like it, but regretted not getting it when it was re-released earlier this year. I was happy to find a bottle very reasonably priced.

 

Holy hell! This stuff is amazing, even though it's not exactly my usual cup of tea. It's pretty much straight up patchouli, although I catch some beeswax sweetness as it warms up. There's a depth there, though, that I can neither describe nor identify. It makes this such a deep and evocative scent on me - I can't stop sniffing and reapplying. I only wish it had more throw. It seems like it should be stronger, but it's probably best if it sticks close to my skin. I can't wait for my husband to get home...

Edited May 21, 2007 by Taniwha

[harmonyfb]

2007 blend:

 

In the bottle, this smells like expensive commercial men's cologne. On my skin, it's all patchouli. Was this reformulated? Because it smells nothing like last year's blend, to my nose. 2006 smelled of sweetened balsam. This is a spicy, patchouli-laden men's cologne.

Edited May 22, 2007 by harmonyfb

[filigree_shadow]

I bought a bottle of this last year thinking it would be wonderful, and I didn't like it. My husband didn't like it either. My notes were: "The juniper ruins it for me. Smells astringent on."

 

When Lupercalia rolled around again this year, I didn't buy a bottle but I wanted to try a decant. Just to be sure. Tastes change, chemistry changes, all that jazz. (Plus I'm still sorta peeved that it didn't work on me last year.)

 

In the 2007 version, I get huge, huge patchouli. That great deep, dark patchouli that I like. It smells earthy and almost gritty with the other notes. I'm really surprised because I distinctly remember walking around smelling like a juniper shrub last year when I had the 2006 version on. This doesn't smell anything like that.

 

Warm, wonderful, lovely dark patchouli.

 

Now to hunt down a bottle.

[LadyCrow]

(Luperci '07)

 

In the imp: Sharply resinous.

 

Wet: The balsam and juniper are dominant.

 

Drying down: Originally, this vanishes, and I have to slather. When I do, I get the patchouli a bit more, but the woods still dominate, and are too astringent for me, making my throat scratchy. (Juniper... damn, that's related to all those other trees I can't... damn, damn, damn.) It's a pity, because I always try to convince patchouli haters of what it can do when it's just one note in a nicely balanced blend, and I think that for someone with the right skin chemistry (and lack of nasal oversensitivity), this blend has the potential to be just that.

[angharad]

Luperci 2007 from the Lab's ebay auctions.

 

Bottle: Heavy, dark, musky, a bit feral, with the faintest hint of something sweet. I think I can pick out the juniper now that I'm looking for it. I can see myself liking this.

 

Wet on skin: Soft, musky patchouli with trying to sweeten it up. I like, I like!

 

Dry on skin: Baby powder. Five minutes of sexiness, then baby powder. It's been baby powder for over 4 hours now.

 

Throw: This seemed pretty strong while wet, but once it dried it stays very close to my skin.

 

Staying power: Well, so far over 4 hours, and it's still there. Then again, it's been baby powder for most of these 4+ hours. Bah.

 

Off to the swaps.

Edited June 29, 2007 by angharad

[Tal Shachar]

This smelled very masculine in the bottle, and I thought I'd keep it for swaps, but I just tried it today and WHOA skin chemistry. The coniferous woody smells faded within seconds, and what developed over a few minutes was a warm, musky honey, sweeter than it was spicy. No woods, no dirt, only a hint of oakmoss and ambrette under a smooth and strong honey.

 

I like it enough to keep the bottle, but I probably won't hunt down a second even though the blend is luxuriantly complex (hate missing out on the good stuff).

[storme]

In the imp: faint patchouli and honey. hrm.

 

On me, wet: wax and sweet honey and a soft oakmossy musk.

 

On me, dry: mrf, this is really faint. I can just about pick out honey and musk and oakmoss, and it's nice.

 

Verdict: Bah, curse my scent-devouring skin. I guess I will pass this along to someone with more co-operative chemistry.

[forspecial_plate]

This is one of those scents I really 'should' like, but don't. When I wear it, it just doesn't cooperate with my skin chemistry (or vice versa, maybe). I can smell the notes I like, patchouli for example, but they're just not working together for me. I even put it away for a few months, tried it again, and that didn't help. It reminds me somewhat of Aureus, but dirtier. The good news is that Aureus works out much better and I have a whole bottle of that, so I'm still happy.

[LadyBug]

patchouli...but it smells like a hotel room. I don't think I like this. A little too dirty smelling for me. Someone else will need to take on my burdened imp!

[Nidaba]

My lovely Summer Switch Witch, Kraken, sent me tons of incredibly LE decants I had been wanting to try. This is one of them.

 

On me Luperci blends perfectly, until I can't really pick apart any specific scents. The patchouli and honey combine to actually make an almost rootbeer scent on me. I would consider this a unisex blend though, it is sweet, but not too sweet, and just a little earthy.

 

Overall, I love this!

[MaeKitty]

Luperci 2007

 

In the Bottle: Patchouli, honey and some dirt. Wierd O_o

On Me: Lots of musk. It's a little cologne-y. I'm really sad that I don't get any of the honey or beeswax from this. Maybe a bit later I'll see if the masculine tones die down.

Later: Nope, still extremely masculine. Amazingly, it's still pretty strong, almost 9 hours later.

[hipslike___cinderella]

This review is for Luperci '08.

 

Altogether, Luperci '08 is very similar to Luperci '07. There are notes in my new blend that made me remember the masculine feel that was once is the former. It's the oakmoss and juniper that makes this, and they are just wonderful against the backdrop of patchouli and musk. This patchouli/musk combo is reminiscent of Oblivion, plus the added oakmoss/juniper give it a playfull, boyish, Pagan feeling. Always evocative. What's left of my old Luperci is strickly honey, beeswax, and patchouli; I'm curious to see what will become on my new one.

[porcelina]

hoolllyyyy crap, this is wonderful. it's woodsy and feral- like running through a dark pine forest on a crisp cool night... all of this over a gorgeous layer of sweet beeswax. i can't stop smelling myself! as it dries down it is subdued a little, becomign a smooth skin scent that retains a touch of the wild. i can see myself getting a lot of use out of this one in fall and it may become a candidate for a second bottle. the surprise hit of my lupercalia order!

Edited February 4, 2008 by porcelina

[Pottersville]

I ordered this scent unsniffed and am glad I didn't also order the backup bottle I'd been contemplating! All of the notes sounded sooooo gorgeous and soooo me .... but all I get is an overwhelming cheap men's cologne smell. Where's that "down and dirty patchouli"?!

[GoldenRubee]

This sounded masculine and I ordered it for my son/daughter since they live together. I love Beth's Honey blends and also love musk and patchouli. It smelled nice in the bottle and I decided to give it a try before I passed it along. I am so glad I did! I tried it this morning about 11:00 and it is 8 hours later and I can still smell it. It is musky and spicy with some patchouli, but not over powering. The honey makes it just a tiny bit sweet and it it very sexy. I know I have to purchase more than one bottle because my husband likes it on me too.

[hkhm]

bottle: honeyed musk. very honeyed musk.

 

wet: wow. musk and moss covered with honey. i would have felt this was far too masculine for me but i'm lovin' it. i think i can catch a hint of juniper every once and a while but it's faint. this is incredibly nice on my skin.

 

dry: moss and juniper with a teensy bit of musk.

[Cheri]

Luperci is so different than I thought it would be based on some of the reviews. This is the one I was worried about when I placed my order, but I couldn't have been more wrong. It's like a musky mint, and reminds of of why I used to love scents like Chanel 19. Not that it smells like it, but it's just the mood of it.

 

It's a gorgeous scent and not masculine at all on me. It's actually quite feminine. No dirty hippy, or even too strong patchouli. It's clean and just plain sexy. I can't wait to see how good it is when it's aged.

[Epiphany]

Luperci 08 was a scent that really surprised me. I was eager to try it, based on the idea alone, but I have a tendency to dislike anything involving patchouli on my skin. In the imp, it was incense and musk, with overtones of fir-trees--a deep and earthy scent, and very strong.

 

However, once it went onto my skin, the patchouli mellowed. Wet, the oakmoss and ambrette seed really began to come through, giving the patchouli and musk a sharper, more floral and nutty tone.

 

Once it had dried for a good while, I really began to smell the beeswax and cypress. They melded seamlessly with the musk and incense smells. On my skin it became an incredibly sexy gender neutral scent that was earthy and sweet (but not saccharine sweet--a lovely, natural and warm sweetness), with a definite fir-tree tone. The sexy was also not a candy-sweet sexy, or even flirtatious--the sexy really speaks to the idea of the scent...It is evocative of debauchery and dark carnal impulses, with a truly celebratory air! Hurray spring! Let's all get naked and bathe in goat's blood!

 

Drat. I think I need more than an imp...

[Iceblink]

In the imp, Luperci '08 is the earthiest patchouli ever. You can almost smell the dirt (not that there's anything wrong with that). Give it 5 minutes on your skin and the beeswax and musk show up and make things all warm and sexy. That dirty patchouli's still there but not as overpowering. Maybe I'm getting a hint of the oakmoss now too--something sort of green and moist is in there somewhere. Very nice, this is.

[zomathesadist]

the sneak winner from Lupercalia '08 for me!

 

this scent loves me. and even better, I love it.

 

It's mild and inoffensive in the bottle, with a kind of 'greenness' that's the most notable part of the first sniff. Then I tried it on.

 

Warm, sexy, green. FANTASTIC. The patchouli is sweetened by the honey and ambrette. The juniper keeps it fresh. The beeswax...mmmm.

 

This smells like you're getting down and dirty with a Faun in a spring meadow. It's green, but so so sexy. On me, it's not a dark smell--it's a light, springy, "Let's mate!" kind of smell.

 

In my top 5. I think I may get a second bottle.

 

In a nutshell: warm green patchouli sweetened by hints of amber and honey. Moderate throw, long wearlength.

[alicia_stardust]

I love this. It's raw and dark and wild. I smell mostly patchouli and balsam, but as the oil dries the beeswax and oakmoss become more prominent. The musk rounds this out and adds to the dark, wild vibe that I get from it. Definitely a work of art!

[Mamacat]

I really pick up the oakmoss and patchouli when it's wet and I love it!! Unfortunately when it dries down on my skin I get a really perfumey musk that smells a bit stale instead of gorgeous and fresh like when it's wet. Fortunately I have a BPTP locket so I can enjoy every drop of my decant!

[Czarina]

In the imp: cedar. Yes, I know there's no cedar in it.

Wet: balsam and patchouli.

Drydown: woody patchouli, musk, balsam, with a sweet overtone (I think the beeswax).

 

Lovely morpher.