LiberAmoris

Haloes for sure, and also The Antikythera Mechanism (Teakwood, oak, black vanilla, and tobacco).

Volcano in Springtime (Whipped vanilla cream and white sandalwood with a touch of lotus root) and Love's Philosophy (Vanilla, saffron, and cream) from this year's Lupercalia release are making me SO happy. Also, I'm a wee bit obsessed with my bottle of Peach VIII (Whipped jasmine cream and peach blossom with vanilla orchid and white frankincense). What other standout milk/cream scents should we record here for posterity?

Aaaand, gonna perform a little necromancy on this topic, since we've had so many lovely items with strawberry notes released in the last year or so: Sticky Eyeballs and Floppy Entrails - Sticky white glops of marshmallow and clotted cream with ropes of sinewy strawberry licorice whips and oozing pink jelly. Battle Fairy in Training - This Battle Fairy smells like blue cotton candy, strawberries, a plop of vanilla icing and a bit of crushed peppermint candy. Pop - This is the scent of the bubbles that she popped all over the city: strawberry bubblegum against a backdrop of chilly wind. Strawberry Sufganiyot - A sugar-dusted pile of sufganiyot, trickling bright rivulets of strawberry jelly. A Mirror of Spring Pleasures on Kites - Pink strawberry, gardenia, blackberry wine, vanilla frankincense, and champaca absolute. Kertasníkir - Beeswax, strawberries, and bits of hard candy. Round Dance - Blush amber, wild carnation, French lavender, hay absolute, strawberry candyfloss, and vanilla cream. The Instructional Manual - Cherry blossoms falling into folds of red musk, bourbon vanilla, and strawberry cream. The Small Harem - Tahitian vanilla and strawberry with tonka bean absolute, Italian bergamot, ylang ylang, and Haitian vetiver. And from the Trading Post: Enveloped in Silk Hair Gloss - Strawberry cream, white musk, and orris root. I've tried many of these, and my favorites so far are Strawberry Sufganiyot, Round Dance, and Enveloped in Silk hair gloss. Thoughts from others?

I was also going to recommend Peanut Musk mixed with a berry blend like Blackberry Jam & Scones. But really, I just popped in to post this:

The Round Dance is so curious! Wet, the lavender and carnation are most prominent, and smell bright—like there's sunshine falling on these notes. I love the hay absolute note, and here it smells tawny and natural, like a plein air painting or something. As those notes mellow, the strawberry candyfloss (aka cotton candy, for us Yankees) and vanilla cream come forward. The result is a perfume full of notes that don't seem like they'd work together, but they genuinely do. It smells like summertime, like having sweets outdoors and sunshine. So much fun, and I think this would make a great sleep blend in the summer due to the lavender!

The Instructional Manual is a pink and red blend, perfect for this warm spring day in NYC. Wet, there are a lot of strong notes vying for attention. But dry, it really blooms into a charming red musk, vanilla, and strawberry scent. The cherry blossom and cream notes are more subtle on me, although the longer I wear it, the more cherry blossom I get. It runs pretty sweet, but it's very fun and lighthearted and I think this will be great to hang on to for layering with Enveloped In Silk hair gloss.

I ordered Enveloped in Silk because I couldn't pass up the chance to try a strawberry hair gloss. I figured I'd like it, but I didn't expect to like it so much! This is definitely a strong gloss when first applied, but it mellows to the most amazing strawberries and cream scent, backed by the white musk and orris that make what could otherwise be a straight-up foody scent more dimensional and elegant. My husband, who's usually indifferent to my hair gloss choices, was like 'Hmmm. Your hair smells good."

Lizzie, I can't wait to hear what you think of Snake Charmer! It's one of my favorites. And you're reminding me to find Tiki King in my husband's BPAL drawer and re-test it...I bet it's aged magnificently! Sprout, agree on Tarot, the Star and Spooky...they can be tough to find, but they're both wonderful.

The Avenue is the pepper-iest blend I think I've tried! I love the black and pink pepper that comes through like gangbusters when wet—it's just a really different start. Aside from the pepper, I get dark, dry chocolate and clove. The smoked amber and bourbon vanilla tar come through as slight caramelized vanilla sweetness, rounding out the dark chocolate and spices. Dry, this is an amber-chocolate perfume on me with pepper and clove at the heart. It's really unique and I'll enjoy using this up.

Fancy! This bonbon smells like a truffle from Vosges. The chocolate and jasmine are strongest on me, with the marshmallow and orange blossom trailing. Wet, it smells like eating chocolate mousse next to a bouquet of jasmine. Dry, this is still jasmine and chocolate—at times I smell more jasmine in the air, and then a moment later, it's mostly chocolate. They sound like strange bedfellows, and I suppose they are an unusual pairing. But it's an interesting and enjoyable combo for me.

Mmm, The Love Swing is so yummy. I definitely see the comp to Black Vanilla & Cardamom HG—vanilla and cardamom here also. The black patchouli is sleek and dark, just as described. Even though this has a strong smell when I first apply it, it's not heavy and the lingering smell after ten minutes or so is faintly sweet, like vanilla-cardamom molasses chews. I love it.

Adding Hidden Pearls into the mix—strong but balanced coconut on me, and the blend smells white and pale green. It's a really refreshing, pretty blend, but I would only recommend it to those who like iris and orris, as those notes are strongest (at least on my skin).

Fleurette’s Purple Snails is pretty great—a worthy addition to this violet thread! It's the most violet-y blend I've tried since Faith.

Hidden Pearls is one of my favorites from my Lupercalia order. This is definitely reminiscent of Blood Pearl, with which it shares notes of orris and coconut. But Hidden Pearls is gleaming and white as opposed to the dusky, musky pearls of Blood Pearl. The iris and orris are the most prominent notes on me (it's like Iris Squared!), with the coconut trailing and the vanilla and pear just behind. The result is a gleaming, nacre-d, gorgeous blend that smells white and pale green. Orris does smell a little like violet, and at times this smells like some just-discovered 'white coconut violet' that only grows in the rainforest or something.

Woah, the oil color for Philostratus’ Phoenix is a very dense golden brown. Wet, the Calabrian lemon is really bright and fresh, and then there's loads of honeyed incense and amber, and golden vegetal musk thrums along underneath. The orange blossom and saffron are nice accents, but don't take over the blend. Once it dries down, this is primarily amber-honey incense with a highlight (lemon) and a lowlight (vegetal musk). It manages to be both sunshine-y and earthy, and when I asked my husband to sniff it, he told me it smelled like really fancy nag champa incense. I think that's a thumbs up from him.

Testing a well-aged imp, so I imagine certain notes were stronger back in 2006, but And There Was a Great Cry in Egypt is lovely. The amber, myrrh, hyssop, and cypress are the strongest notes on my skin, with the honey, sandalwood, frankincense, cardamom, saffron, and red musk just behind. The cypress is really wonderful here, and this smells like some very fancy handmade incense I have, minus the smoke. This is the kind of perfume that I find really relaxing: woods, amber and honey, a little musk, and spices. Had I had a greater notion ten years ago of the kinds of scents I like, I think I would have picked up a bottle.

I'm loving The Top. All four notes come through, but the result is something that smells less like four notes coming together and more like 'rock 'n' roll rose'. This is a rose that's lived a little, y'know? This is rose with the faint smell of cigarettes in her hair and smudged eyeliner, who travels the world and then when she gets home, throws her girlfriend's black leather jacket over a long white t-shirt to get a big bottle of mineral water at the corner bodega. It's self-assured, a true don't-f*ck-with-me rose. Definitely incensey and a little perfumey (again, that blend of downtown and uptown), but also smolderingly sexy. The drydown, once the musk settles in, is BEAUTIFUL.

2016 release: Ooof, yes, this is very pretty. Elizabeth of Bohemia is a truly perfect rose oude. This is straight up red rose and oudh on me, and it's perfect in its simplicity. The oude gives depth and a sense of maturity...this is a regal rose perfume. Although I already have dozens of BPAL roses in my collection, there can never be enough.

2016 release: I didn't pick up Love's Philosophy in 2008, so was eager to try the 2016 vintage. This is one of those perfumes that smells very different on me at different times of the month, so I've had a variety of testing experiences. At it's best, it's an absolutely delicious saffron cream—like a gourmand's custard with an edge of something in the saffron that goes rooty-menthol. I can see the comparisons to cream soda (cream plus vanilla plus something rooty), as well as the reviews calling out wintergreen (vanilla plus menthol). The custard-y sillage is pretty wonderful. On days when my skin chem isn't behaving, I get an additional chalky note that I'm not so fond of. Even so, keeping what I have...on a good day, Love's Philosophy is very good.

Chinoiserie is wine and roses on me, with myrrh and patchouli supporting and a tang of poppy. As mentioned above, it does smell a bit like a well-executed, smokeless kyphi. Wine isn't always a great note on me, but the rose and patch really make this wearable. This is very smooth—reds and purples and blacks swirled together. Very nice, and I recommend it to Blood Rose fans!

Reviewing a well-aged imp of The Arrival at the Sabbath and Homage to the Devil, and slightly flummoxed at all the reviews of caramelly goodness...perhaps it's aged out of my imp? But it's ok, because I like what I have here: a complex iris perfume, that yes, smells a bit like the odiferous melange of a Lush store. This is mostly iris, carnation, sandalwood, and benzoin on me and it is YUMMY. I failed to pick up a bottle of this when it released, but I wish I had...knowing what I now know about what works on me, this is a note list that would definitely justify a blind bottle, that's for sure. This isn't foody or fuzzy on me, it's classic and chic.

If you rolled Obatala in white rose, honey, and the sheerest dusting of ambered chocolate, you'd be close to Adrastea. This is part foody, part mommy and wholly delightful. On and dried down, the sillage reminds me of a hot milk drink I once had at a fancy party that was steeped with rose petals, cacao nibs, and creme de coco. It makes me want to don a fuzzy bathrobe and curl up with a good book.

Resurrecting this topic since we can now add Stekkjarstaur (wonderful marshmallow!) to this list. Maybe someone will also chime in regarding Volcano in Springtime ('whipped vanilla cream')?

Oh yes, Fairy Thorn! I love that one also. I am too, can't wait! I learned recently that there was once (2006?) a Tuberose SN. Would have /died./ I never tried that one, but I wish I had!

Amber and honey with golden peach, patchouli leaf, bergamot, and sweet vanilla. Gold of the Heart of that Holy Kiss is like a golden cloud! The amber, honey, and golden peach give this a sunshiney, warm feel, with the patch leaf, bergamot, and sweet vanilla grounding it. The peach is forward here, but it's nicely balanced with the amber so it doesn't overwhelm. I think this atmo would be wonderful to spray on a grey day, because it's super cheering and sunny. It's reminiscent of the lovely Golden Peach and Bergamot HG, and I think I'll be spraying the inside of a winter jacket with this beauty and pairing it with that HG soon.