groovyrooby

What a treat! Upon first test, this was a light creamy, sweet floral with a little bit green and herbal feel. Very clean, soft, and calm. Second test, I really got the lavender to start, warm and sweet. It developed into a strong, stable, snuggly cologne - something you want to bury your nose in and take deep, soothing breaths. It's not a dry woody lavender but a sweet and fuzzy version. I have since worn this during yoga practice, to bed, and for general unwinding on the couch at the end of the night. I also would wear this to catch up with an old friend and whenever you need a grounding boost of peaceful confidence that everything is as it should be. I didn't even realize how excited I should be for these new RPGs! They and seem to work both as a terrific standalone as well as a great base for layering. This feels like the base for many of my favorites.

Ahhh this is so nice and comforting. To start - sweet corn. Next - popcorn! Salty and buttery. I worried this would go plastic on me, as most delicious buttery things do. Then - warm grain cereal. There's that sweet hay I was hoping for! It's that particular sweetness from Scarecrow Turned Philosopher - a natural grassy, grainy sweet. I would almost call this a foodie smell. Also reminds me of my beloved Brood XIX in that way. I've worn this quite a few times now and only once detected the Fruit Loops scent (which I actually was kind of excited for!), but I keep reaching for this when I want a calm, cozy smell, often at night, when hanging with friends or family, very casual heartwarming gatherings, or even when going to bed. It puts a smile on my face and smells like a big hug. Yummy, salty, and sweet.

I'm trying to make friends with some fruity scents, and I like oudh, so gave this a try. Definitely fruity, but also a little dusty/musty. I think this is a blackberry pattern I'm encountering. Got a similar vibe from The Elephant is Slow to Mate. It's like traces of blackberry in an old jug. The oudh didn't do much here, unfortunately, not a trace of sour. I was hoping it would brighten the blackberry as @fairybites experienced - that dark chocolate fruity funk I love so much. But I didn't get there. Just kind of crusty old fruit.

Gah this so did not work for me. I really wanted to be on this train! The tobacco, patch, and smoke were calling me, but the red fruits, berries, and wine were red flags. I'm not sure how the sum of all those parts gave me old musty country house, but that's what I got. It started like rich sweet maple and eucalyptus, brown and woody. But the Tussin cherry vibe revealed its predictable self and coalesced in the old room in in the upstairs of an old house that nobody goes in anymore. Or an abandoned church. Pretty good throw, and lasted longer than I wanted to smell this. Very sad I missed this train.

Received this as a decant, and I'm going to need a big one. This is a nice fruity plum with a little minty greenery from the florals. This is more what I imagine when I think of 'perfume' in a classic sense. It's a rich, complex scent with great throw but still feels light and airy. Floral stays on top with a sweet-tart plum honey combo floating on top. This totally scratches my plum itch, and I'm glad to see it won't induce an LE panic. I definitely would wear this out with friends, but feels too personal and exposed for work, and a bit too intimate for family.

I tried several of the Cacao Pods this year - I just love that cacao note! But this was my winner. Smells like a cordial cherry! Rich fruity dark chocolate. Smooth and a little funky thanks to that oud - but it's a sour funk, like a nice dark Belgian beer, a Flanders red or a Flemish sour. It reminds me of the tang in Belgian Chocolate, Orange Blossom, Marshmallow, and Jasmine, which is another favorite of mine. But this feels more late summer, sultry heat in the afternoon, whereas I feel the Belgian Chocolate etc. more in the wintertime, around a fire. This is not a particularly powerful throw, so it still feels safe for those warm temps. Delicious.

Gosh, this was such a tease! Just adore this out of the decant. Starts a light honey sweet, damp and green stems that develop that violet character. It's got a shimmering quality -that flash of silk - that reminds me of The Diamond's Gong. But really this strikes me as Serpent Qui Danse lite, that kind of sweet, rich, creamy violet, but not as syrupy heavy. More of a flicker out of the corner of your eye than a head-turner. And I guess that's why it up & disappears on me. 😢 The butter just isn't holding it down long enough to enjoy more than 30 minutes or so. It's still wonderful! And I will use every drop of my decant! This actually was my No. 2 of the Lupers this year. But I really wish it wasn't quite SO ethereal.

Can't believe I haven't reviewed this yet! This turned out to be my favorite of the Lupers this year. I blind bottled a few things with mixed success this year, but this is the only one I scaled up to a big bottle. I've been searching for something perfectly coy, innocent feigning but really wild beneath it all, and this totally hits the spot! It starts out pink, fruity, almost bubblegum sweet on me, but it continues to develop a creamy sweet richness with just a little funk to suggest the humidity and lust below the surface. Love love love it. Not something I would wear to work, with family, even just with friends unless I was trying to put the red light on. That oud is really quite suggestive. But absolutely a go-to in the bedroom.

I think I like all the elements here, though I'm not sure how saffron is supposed to come across. This was a spicy, scratchy sandalwood on me. Furry, prickly brown & spicy. Had a sweetness to it like cola, but more from the woody elements, like a root beer without sugar. Similar in smell to Brown Jenkin or Small Brown Cat but subtly different vibe - not particularly cozy, but more woody, shaggy, and rooty spice. Really close, bittersweet, and dry.

Orange blossom is usually a win for me, but the balance was just off in this, for me. My experience started much like @splendidissima's - sweet but also sharp, almost medicinal. Next stop was syrupy sweet, like a reduction on a dessert, oily syrupy baklava sweet. Husband smelled dried fruit, think: candied orange peel. But like many delicious things, ended toasty burnt and hyper saccharine sweet. Close, but no cigar.

I am so delighted with this had to come & review! Tested a couple times now from a bottle that rested a few days. The list of notes has so many things up my alley - lilac, iris, violet, gardenia - and a few red flags - chocolate, coconut, which tend to go burnt plastic on me. At first whiff from the bottle when it had just arrived, I panicked. The chocolate was leaping out, and I was certain this was going to be a heartbreaker. But oh no! Chocolate didn't stick around too long and didn't go awry. It's light and a lovely start. This quickly morphed into the loveliest sweet green floral and it makes me smile. It's grassy, like the Gap's Grass fragrance that I loved so dearly and still fantasize about. The coconut is there, but young! Not toasty! This might be the first time coconut has worked for me. Together, the lettuce & coconut give the florals a delicate, natural sweetness that is uplifting and encouraging. Not a whole lot of throw, but I need this in my life, so I'll just keep swiping it on. Just wonderful.

Received a decant of this, and it is promptly going on my next order. This starts as a floral, almost funereal - that too-fresh and sharply sweet, almost saccharine, flower arrangement. As it developed, it reminded me of Lazy Daisy, floral and cottony, with less of the sour note I get from that one. Once the tobacco kicked in - holy moly this is my jam! Smoky, spicy with a little bit to it, it just kept getting spicier! Like a High Strung Daisies carnation floral spicy. Really beautiful. I love it. I need it.

Very much enjoyed this, so much that I gave it to husband and asked that I please may snuggle up to this one. Starts out green and sweet, herbal grassy honey. Must be the almond making it so sweet! Not the amaretto vibe I usually get from almond, but a much more natural sweetener. Eventually the green turned to brown - warm, mellow, very tranquil. Lingered on a warm spicy herbal note. Loved smelling it all day long, but it felt like I was sniffing the traces of someone I miss amongst the clothes they left behind. Beautiful, but I don't expect it wafting from my own arm. But I really couldn't stop sniffing myself. I'll probably still sneak some wears out of the bottle, now on his side of the room.

I was expecting a big, punch in the face, sweaty floral after watching 15 Minutes of 'Fume for this! I should say - I was HOPING for that. And this started as a delectable, deep rich floral. Honey is not always nice to me, but it was very kind - sweet and drippy, not sour and sweaty - here. This blend feels like a form-over-function suffer for beauty, glamorous feel to it - like lounging around a wraparound porch on a humid New Orleans night in sumptuous velvet - hot, sticky, clingy, ripe. A creamy, spicy flower. Smooth petals on a steamy evening. Love it! The effect didn't last more than an hour, but that one hour was HOT!

YUM. This vibe is a combo I seek out in the catalog. It's one of my favorite things they do. 13 (November 2020) and No Man is an Island are two of my faves for this earthy sweet cocoa effect - and this is right in there. Warm, dark, rich, and dry. This cocoa still suggests sweet, even without the supporting notes in those other blends. Maybe it's the resin from the incense? Then again, the copal & palo santo lend the bitter curls wafting up from the swinging vespers. Gorgeous. I really should try all these cocoas if this is how they're gonna do.

Cacao and vetiver are two of my favorite BPAL notes, even better in combination! And here they are skipping along and holding hands, right out of the gate! This is rich and dark with a little tang from the cocoa. I didn't detect much black pepper, unless it's that bitter dried spices aroma that's bringing a little bit of sour. I imagined I would like more black pepper, but I'm not sure my vision of it would've helped here. This is lovely as-is.

I just love that minty, musky opening! And a little bit of dirt, which is usually a note that concerns me, but I guess the mossy version here was just right for me. Mossy woods and minty greenery. I initially didn't get much musk, but eventually the scales tipped, and this turned into a powdery musk on me. I think I like my musk a little more damp than this. Did not detect the tuberose (which might've sullied that musk a little more for me!) or smoke.

I really couldn't get this fragrance to speak out at all. Three swipes in one spot from a decant, and it's barely a whisper. Cool, lemony wood and a faint white floral. No jasmine, no orchid. Just a wooden box with a faint, pale floral whiff upon opening. I wish @starbrow and I could trade arms, because on me - this was way closer to the jasmine tea she was looking for. I was hoping for the screechier jasmine she found!

This was quite the morpher on me. Started out bubblegum fruity sweet, fresh and juicy, and I really enjoyed the opening. Then it turned floral. Flirty. Still really enjoyed! Ended powdery, in the vein of a deodorant fragrance. This is too bad, as I really enjoy salty and fresh smells. Had it stayed as it was at the start, I'd be smitten. But the end was more precious and pretty than coy.

Golden - check. Tea - check. Lychee - check! Peonies... peonies? No peonies for me. That's a strong flower, but I didn't really get any here. Too bad. Juicy & warm, great fruity tea scent. Didn't wear for long til it faded to nothing.

I am searching for a nice strawberry scent, as husband likes it fruity & sweet, and this is getting warmer, but still not for me. At first sniff, I thought I had it! Strawberry candy, kinda sharp, like i just opened a pack of Big League Chew (one of his faves ). Or like the big jugs of shampoo on the bottom shelf at Sally Beauty. Or the concession stand at the pool in the summer. Definitely not real strawberry, but still enticing and nostalgic. Not gonna let him smell this one, because he'd probably like it enough to guilt me into wearing it. Too far at his end of the spectrum, and I need a happy medium.

HEADS-UP! The review below is for the 2021 The Sun Rising (which explains so much ...) but I can't figure out how to take this down, so... I got such a citrus vibe from this, but I don't know where it's coming from... neroli maybe? I love citrus notes but can never seem to get them to stick with me for long. Something in this is accomplishing that goal! This opens as a warm, sweet citrus, very aromatic and even a little pithy. Without ever checking notes to see how left-field I was, my notes to self say "gorgeous, realistic, complex citrus layers with warmth. Bergamot, zesty, and a little fresh orange in the air." Going back to check the notes, not sure what is lending this effect, but I really enjoy it! I love citrus smells in the morning, and I guess I'm not alone! Someone thought this citrus-vibe would be a good day-starter. Beautiful. Big bottle short list. I (mostly) love jasmine, but didn't get much here. I don't love myrrh, also didn't get much here. No smoke.

I say savory, husband says 'perfumey'. Wouldn't mention it, because it's not terrible helpful, except that the two takes would seem contrary, yet indeed they both stand. Tested from a decant. This starts salty and almost peanut buttery, salty-sweet and rich on me. Very fresh. Reminds me a bit of Haunted Beach or Salt Phoenix, both of which I love. Fresh, salty beachy air that dries to dry beach dune plants. Really nice and a rather unique vibe that only appears in the catalog on occasion.

I also got frottled the MML2 Prototype with my last order! This is a woody floral on me. The flowers are soft and powdery floating over the top, no distinct floral note, but very aromatic, more like a tea blend. Grounding it is a spicy wood note, maybe balsam? It's got that green peppery burst that quickly turns dry and spicy on me, a favorite. This is soft, dry, subtle. I could see wearing this in the Fall as your mind turns to flannel sheets and a steaming mug of black tea, like a nice English Breakfast.

I know nothing of straight up Smut nor of Snake Oil. I have only known either in a blend, and I've enjoyed those blends immensely! That said - this is not at all what I expected! Right out of the bottle, this is unmistakably Dr. Pepper. 😮 Sweet cola and bitter rooty candy, of the sarsaparilla or horehound variety - a little herbal and a little fruity. Not root beer - Dr. Pepper. I've had this experience once before - The Isles of Demons, which on me was a spicy floral I really enjoyed. Rich cocoa is somewhere lurking in back. Husband thought he smelled something lemony, too. Maybe that's the cardamom? Bright version, not the warm baking spice version. I got no detectable leather, which is very good news for me. Patchouli crept in slowly but still withheld its power. Surprisingly soft for all the elements here. This is going to age like a beast!