themerrybaker

I swapped away a bottle of Saturnalia for Luperci and almost dissolved into giggles when I first applied it. The initial note was extreme vetiver and almost identical to Saturnalia. Go figure - supposedly this does not contain vetiver.

 

 

 

Luperci exhibited maximum morphing power during the drydown, though. Patchouli, conifer, honey. After a couple hours, there was an incense blast and things ended up complex-lemony.

 

 

 

With the exception of the beeswax and honey, I wasn't thrilled with any of the notes in this (OK, maybe a bit thrilled by the balsam).

 

 

 

In spite of all, Luperci is surprisingly lovely: 5/5 lovely, new fave lovely, etc.

Not much more to add: except this is a light happy, peaceful perfume. I do not get laundry associations with it, just an impression of a "white" scent. Dirty is dryer than Unicorn, a little sharper and fruitier than Berenice, and doesn't have the initial "barf" stage like Arachne. (Da Merry One loves her teh white scents!)

 

 

 

Dirty will likely become a big bottle in the future and become a daily staple.

For some reason Umbra reminds me a little of Midnight, which I also love. It is raspy/prickly when wet, then dries down to a woody cinnamon. The vetiver keeps it very dry, and the patchouli is true plant patchouli as opposed to the obnoxious perfumey kind.

 

Another that I didn't expect to like as much as I do!!

I don't believe that the Lab does post "shipped through". We tend to check the "I got my order thread" to get a feel for what is being processed.

Out of the imp, Goneril smelled rosy then like lily of the valley. Good grief, guessed wrong on this one!

 

 

 

The tart scent might be rose geranium - another lovable plant for me and a happy surprise because the Lab's Lily of the Valley notes have not been coming across on me.

 

 

 

I really didn't get a coniferous cedar phase, and finally ended up with tart geranium and incense.

 

 

 

One of the better surprise frimps, I'd consider a big bottle if it were possible to fit any more BPAL in my house. Only wish MY pee smelled this good!

Laudanum starts out very bitter and unpleasant on me.

 

As it dries down, it becomes mega-overpowering-poppy. Finally, I find it bitter, dry, and dusty. This is one I should like more than I do - because it is unusual and interesting, but it is not a favorite.

I got Sugar Skull, in memory of my little cat Julia, to use with an altar on the Day of the Dead. So, even if it smelled crappy I was going to keep it in the fridge for the day. Foody scents are not my thing.

 

 

 

But it smells great! It starts out rum-raisiny and ends up Brown Sugar. I could see this on Mick Jagger - "How come ya smell so good..".

 

 

 

And the description is spot on, too. It is a very happy smell, which is what you need on Dia de los Muertos.

Enraged Vikings chomping extra hard on their minty fresh chewing gum? I do not get floral, nor aquatic, just weird spearmint gumminess. This one really pillaged my hut.

No sex with Mort (he's petite after all), but definitely skin and honey. This reminds me of warm oiled skin and I'm really happy to not be a' reekin' of someone else's sex - especially in my cleavage or something. I could see this one as Honeyed Skin with Baby Oil.

 

 

 

Being a big honey/amber fan, I've let this little frimp migrate into the no-swap zone.

There is something about wet patchouli on me that suggests squashed bug guts. Dance of Death gets better as it dries down but remains very sweet and dark.

 

 

 

It does not become a "dry white" scent on me, the patchouli or maybe dark musk hangs in there doing its headshop thing.

 

 

 

For dark patchouli lovers, this may be a great scent. But I can't really distinguish it from memory from Caterpillar, Masquerade and the ilk.

This is one that broke my heart. It smelled so wonderful in the imp: spicy, aromatic, well blended. I thought I'd found the One True Pairing.

 

 

 

It did fine on my skin for a while, and then turned gamey/rancid. This is definitely a skin-chemistry issue here. Grandmother has so much in it to enjoy for someone with the right kind of pelt.

Very effervescent, I can't decide whether Twenty One is Sprite on a hot day with models singing "crisp and clean and light", or gin and tonic in an Out-of-Africa elegant colonial outpost! One minute the juniper is around in all it's evergreen glory and the next minute it's sweet citrus.

 

 

 

Definitely a happy swap.

Lemon and vetiver. Van Van is warmer and drier than some of the other lemon blends, such as Cairo and Mantis. Since I like dry and citrus, this imp is a keeper.

A rush of lily that dries down into a subtle lotiony scent. I'm glad I got to try this one, and will use up the imp - but there are just sooo many floral scents that this is unlikely to become a big bottle. Too bad, because it's definitely bottle-worthy.

The sage and other stuff in Bewitched keep it from becoming Grape Kool Aide on me. A good one on a hot day for a ripe fruit feel. I like this imp but won't need 5ml because other blends, such as Yerevan and Hanging Gardens are more to my taste for the same effect. A berry-lover may differ.

Another fortunate impulse/fun purchase.

 

 

 

Spirits of the Dead is on my top ten list and the Enraged Bunny is similar and maybe better. Maybe the victims of rabbit mayhem are haunting the larcenous lagomorph.

 

 

 

The Bunny is a little mellower, but with the same clean citrus feel. It is sweet rather than tart but not candyish or cloying. No tea, but no soap and not particularly powdery either. This will be great to wear as the weather warms up.

 

 

 

The April Fool's update sounded pretty silly at the time but it really rocked!

I liked this one much more than I'd expected. After the first initial "foody" stage, it dried down to sweet and perfumey - rum, vanilla, and a little saffron maybe. As mentioned above, it doesn't last very long and ends up leaving a very faint vanilla cake crumb scent on my skin.

But I get such a kick out of wearing Underpants on my wrist.

Hanging Gardens is lusciously and voluptuously sweet. This would be a great summer scent, so much ripe fruit! It also has reasonable throw and lasts a few hours. So glad I got to try it.

Yes, this is lovely and a good example of the "dry white" description from the Lab.

 

 

 

I love the crispness of the scent for most of the day, but Berenice does need a reapplication because when it's done it's vanilla? Which is OK in itself, but not at all like what you started out wearing.

I have been on the receiving end of multiple frimps of Gluttony. As the same thing happened with Blood the situation is making me wonder if the cosmos isn't telling me to cut out the beer and DRINK BLOOD UNTIL I WADDLE TO THE JOHN AND HURL. It doesn't help that I've gained a few pounds recently....

 

 

 

On me Gluttony smells a little like caramel Turtles. Not that I don't like eating Turtles once in a while but realistically I AM NOT A TURTLE - I really don't think of myself as a reptile, and am not very fussy about food. I work in the turd herding industry, yes, but it's "turdle-with-a-d" not "turtle-with-a-t" to paraphrase Liza.

 

 

 

So, OK, this scent obviously incites me to total paranoia: I give it away to my friends' kids or frimp it out with swaps, but it just keeps coming back with swaps and lab orders. It's making me question my sanity on purchasing one of the "foody" expensive LE's. It makes my molars ache even sniffing it.

 

 

 

I really wish this one would get its #$% out of my life. Next person who swap with me, be afraid.

I love lily of the valley. It's just about one of my favorites smells. I love the plant, I love the cool spring weather in which they bloom, I love the woods that I grew them in.

 

 

 

I also love Hymn, but wish the lily of the valley was a bit more pronounced. The rose is definitely discernable, not much incense, and underneath it all my favorite....lily of the valley!

I live with two couch-lions and wanted to have a little piece of personal lion-hood.

 

 

 

This blend works, it makes me feel more like a laid-back, queen of the savannah, cat while wearing it.

 

 

 

I accidentally spilled a good slather on myself this morning, but the scent is not overpowering. If anything it smells a little powdery in a good way, but even if it had reeked of tuna it would be a welcome addition.

Saturnalia and I have a love-hate relationship. I'd hoped for more violet, but love hot acrid weedsmell, too. This a very non-perfumey, don't mess with me tough gal scent for me.

 

 

 

It smells sweaty and dirty and makes me want to have hairy armpits and make guys kiss them.

Dragons blood, jasmine and ... celery? Dang dogs will eat anything!

 

 

 

Not a fave in the scent department, but having had such great luck with Queen, it will probably do its thing.

I can't add much to the Red Hots description (except that it is witty in this context). When I went to sniff my wrist, the scent stung my lip. Maybe this one has interesting possibilities as a massage oil?