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Showing results for tags 'Liliths Winter Travelogue'.
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Lilith’s French teacher is a lovely, kind, radiant human being, and always so generous with her time. Before Lilith left for Paris, she helped Lilith put together a cheat sheet of phrases that Lil knew she’d need for the trip. Où sont les jouets, s’il vous plaît? French vanilla, strawberries, and raspberries. Wet, I was a little taken aback. This smelled almost exactly the way I remember pink amoxicillin smelling when I was a child. That lasted all of a minute until it became a delicious Starburst Jelly Bean scent. This was my favorite part of wear, not going to lie! As it dries, the jelly bean scent wears off until you’re left with a lovely, sweet, fruity vanilla all the way through. It doesn’t have a huge presence, but it is a delightful girly fragrance. This was one of my favorites from the Travelogues!
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Brian: “She’s my Mini Me.” Lilith: “This was me and Unkie posing for a picture with a play thing going on in the background at the ice rink in Alexanderplatz. I didn’t understand it because it was all happening in German, but it was fun!! I love my Unkie so much. He’s like my older twin. We have the same birthday and we are both year of the Rat. Mom is a stinky ol’ Tiger. Anyway, I just love him so much.” Virgo’s sacred lavender and mosses with thyme, chamomile, lemon balm, and fig. Lavender with chamomile and thyme. This one is another herby type of lavender. Very soothing as well. Medium throw and good wear length.
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Inspired by the deep purple hues of the night we arrived in Austria: icy air, plum musk, and blackberry with a beam of amber light. Am I first? This truly is a purple type of scent. The plum musk jumps out first, with the blackberry just adding some extra fruitiness, then mellows into the warmth of the amber as it dries down. Light to medium intensity and throw, so I predict I will be slathering this one! Will be interesting to see how it ages.
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Travel brings educational experiences that you just can’t predict. We visited the German Spy Museum in Berlin on a whim, and Lilith learned all about the history of espionage, data encryption, cryptography, and cypher machines, poisons and truth serums, and the strange and clever artifacts of Cold War spycraft. For me, the most interesting part was the Stasi’s collection of scent samples of German dissidents. For Lilith, the best part of the museum was dodging beams in the laserparcours, full Mission Impossible-style. Here, Lilith is inspecting the poisons exhibit after watching a reel about the Bulgarian umbrella. Leather shoe phones, the gleaming metal of a M-125-3 Fialka cipher machine, a femme fatale’s heady, dark perfume, and a breath of castor bean accord. Jasmine, perfume, and a whiff of metal and leather. This one smells like a femme fatale. You get the jasmine, the old timey perfume, and whiffs of metal and leather. Good throw, great wear length.
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Even the most intrepid adventurers get sleepy. Coffee, coffee, and more coffee for the grownups, and vanilla ice cream to en’sugar the kiddo out from her stupor. This is great! Exactly as you might expect based on the description: sweet coffee and a bit of musky vanilla. It's kind of like a less musky, more gentle, vanilla-accented Jialong (which I love too). It reminds a bit of the scent of the Campsite Coffee candle from Bath and Body Works that I have, only better.
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Okay, this isn’t a photo of Lilith, but it IS a photo of a dessert I had on the first night in Salzburg. It was delicious and amazing and perfect, and it gets its own scent. Baked apples in cinnamon cream, with a blueberry and raspberry garnish. Scheiterhaufen Vom Boskop Apfel is a sweet and fruity scent, I do get the blueberry at first, with a tiny bit cinnamon and cream. But that fades and what's left is slightly cinnamon sweet cream. Until now I don't really get apple... But it's an interesting scent
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We were exhausted, hungry, and batty from travel, but Lilith made herself right at home. She’s a born traveler, and takes just about everything that happens on a trip in stride; she’s as comfortable in a hotel, hostel, or airport floor as she is at home. Just before dawn on our first morning in Paris, I tried to talk Lilith into putting on a coat and watching the sun rise with me, but she’s didn’t bite. Burgundy oudh and crushed velvet musk with a misting of lavender. OUDH OUDH OUDH. I got mainly oudh, and maybe a whiff of musk. But yes, OUDH OUDH OUDH. Great throw and wear length. Did I mention MONSTER OUDH?
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Lilith meets the Gargoyles of Paris: stone and ancient incense, beeswax and lavender smoke. The stone and the incense are there. I'm not getting any beeswax so that's kinda disappointing. Honestly, I'm not a fan of the lavender smoke. It does indeed smell like smokey lavender and is off-putting. I was hoping for a more beeswax/incense heavy scent with the other notes in the background.
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My two favorite spectres, haunting the apartments of Paris: white musk, graceful lavender, blackcurrant, teakwood, and cacao. Lavender, white musk, and touches of teakwood and cacao. This one end up as a very clean blend on me (thanks white musk), and it smells almost austere. Medium throw and wear length.
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Salzburg is so goddamn beautiful. Chilled white tea, freesia, and bergamot blanketing skeletal branches. Winter wind brushing across still waters. Powdery floral with tea and bergamot. In the background of the scent is something aquatic-ish. Soft, feminine, and perfumey. Stays close to the skin. I can see wearing this in Spring or Summer. I like it well enough just not sure I would reach for it that often.
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While we were at the Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung, I desperately wanted to see the Nefertiti bust and share the moment with Lilith. There’s a story behind why the bust is so important to me, but that’s for another time. Suffice to say, I was overwhelmed with awe and joy, and a kind docent told me that we could take a photograph from the doorway as long as we didn’t use flash. This blurry mess is my best attempt! Myrrh steeped with cardamom, cinnamon, and sweet wine, streaked with lines of labdanum kohl, and gilded with crushed ambrette seed, a copper oxide musk, and accords of lime spar and iron oxide. In the bottle I mostly get wine and, I guess, the lime spar because it has a mineral-like lime smell to it. Once it's on the skin it morphs quite a bit. The myrrh and spices come out while the wine note recedes and becomes a background note. This scent is kinda hard to describe. Myrrh is the base with the other notes sorta popping in and out. One moment I smell lime, another moment Wine, and another moment Labdanum. It's all in there spice, resins, mineral, stone, a bit of sweetness, musk, and metal. It sounds like a mess but it's not. These notes play really well together. I really love this scent but more than that it's intriguing. I have the feeling this will age beautifully.
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The first Christmas market that we visited in Berlin was at Potsdamer Platz. We were completely wiped from the day of travel from Salzburg, but we were stubbornly determined to at least step into the market before collapsing into bed. The scent of brightly frosted lebkuchen, warm mutzenmandeln, and chocolate-drizzled, marzipan filled schneeballen. I don’t know how to adequately describe how much I love this. It’s a blast of chocolate similar to Gelt, but with a warm cheesecake-y dough-y cupcake-y spice added in. It doesn’t morph much from application to dry down; a slightly pretzel-nutty note is the only thing that fades. It’s incredibly comforting and delicious. I typically don’t wear a scent two days in a row (just because I have so many to choose from and I love variety) but I’ve worn this 3 days in a row now since it arrived. It’s that good! This will be a backup bottle buy for sure.
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Brian: “I’m not afraid of heights, but I am reasonably afraid of landing, and I have what I feel is a legitimate concern about rickety old carnival rides. I kinda hate carnival rides, but I’ll do it for Lilith.” Lilith: “Mom says this ride is called a Swing Carousel, but she also calls it a Barf Ride. She wouldn’t go on it, but my dad and my Unkie did. We went on it, and it’s pretty much where you’re sitting in a flying seat. When we were stopped, I couldn’t reach the ground with my feet. I love this ride. The swing is kinda like one of those baby things you have at the park, with the bar for the babies. It’s like those swings, but crazy and way up high. We ate cheesy hot dogs and got hot chocolate right next to the ride, too.” Bright orange peel and osmanthus with polished cedar, rings of burnished amber, sweet incense, and gingerbread. On wet, you get a big burst of orange, followed by amber and spice (hello gingerbread) and a touch of incense. This one sort of reminds me to Pallas Athene with the orange and the amber, but brighter and more playful. Good throw and wear length.
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It was pouring rain and bitterly cold, but this smile kept me warm. Wrought iron lattice and sparkling amber lights. It ALMOST does smell like rod iron, says the kid that used to smell and (maybe lick) rod iron. As it dries down, I get Pine! A citrus! An Amber!
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Brian: “It’s something we always do when we’re on a trip, ever since she was really little. She complains constantly about how Beth brushes her hair, and I honestly enjoy the challenge of brushing her mop. It’s like that knot Alexander had to undo, except on my niece’s head, and I don’t have the option to cut it. Plus, her hair looks really nice when it’s done right.” Lilith: “Every time we’re on a trip together, Unkie brushes my hair for me. I hate brushing my hair. Also cuz mom says I don’t do it thoroughly and I miss parts in the middle. I think there are pictures of him brushing my hair in every city we’ve ever been together. He brushes my hair way better than mom does.” A warm scent, mahogany-dark: spiced teakwood, coffee bean, bourbon vetiver, styrax, tobacco, and oakmoss. I get teak, coffee, styrax, tobacco and a whiff of oakmoss. This one is darker, fun, and sort of playful? If you have a favorite uncle, this is what it smells like - caring, fun, and a little high strung maybe? Good throw and wear length.
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Lilith learning the art of spycraft at Deutsches Spionagemuseum. A pre-teen superspy’s secret identity: white pear, apple pulp, golden musk, and fossilized amber. this unfortunately went all wrong on me from the beginning. in the imp, it smelled like a really soft, fruity body spray, which was...ok. nothing that was blowing me away. when i put it on though, it turned to pool chlorine - wtf?? i'm going to wait until my period is over to re-test this and see if it was a chemistry thing.
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Spinning merrily at the foot of Sacré-Cœur, this is one of twenty permanent carousels scattered around Paris. Just down the road, Lilith watched street hustlers play Three-Card Monte and ply the old gold ring scam. A swirl of color against a rainy backdrop: golden amber and blackberry oudh with pineapple, tobacco absolute, cinnamon leaf, bay, sweet vetiver, and red apple pulp. This is a whirlwind of a blend. I got red apple, blackberry, with touches of tobacco and amber. And as it dries, I got a whiff of cinnamon and bay, and smoky vetiver. This is like the ups and downs of a carousel. Golden, wonderful, and a delight. I think I need a bottle.
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I know I’ve talked about Lilith’s experiences with Krampus for years, so I hesitate to reiterate them here. She loves Krampus. Her love for Krampus easily equals her love for Santa, so in 2017, we took her to the Gnigl Krampuslauf in Salzburg (which we memorialized in our 12 Lashes From Krampus and Perchtenläufe series). She was enraptured. She was charmed by the wee little kid Krampuses, the Perchten, the switches, and the chains. She loved the snow and icicles, the roadside cider vendors and the bitterly cold air. I love this photo; it really seems to encapsulate her joy that night: the sparkle in her eyes and her bursts of laughter. Ice, leather, and snow warmed by a steaming stein of children’s glühwein. At The Krampuslauf In the bottle: fruity snow with grape juice. On the skin: this is very snowy! The snow note in here is like the one in Snow Bunny or Snow Angel, a sweet, slushy note with pine and berry accents to it. the berry-like nature of the scent is enhanced by the children’s gluhwein, which is a kind of red grape juice on my skin. Sweeter and less heady than the usual BPAL red wine, this is a kind of fruit punch scent with a little bit of what could be citrus peel? But the snowy note dominates. I don’t smell leather, but compared to Ted’s Krampuslauf scent, this is much more fruity and heavier on the ‘BPAL Snow’ accord whereas Ted’s is more frosted lavender Dorian with a hint of leather. Gradually the red fruity note morphs from grape into something almost like maraschino cherry on me, before it ends up smelling a bit like the port note from past Yules, maybe the Port Jelly scent from the Miskatonic collection. The snow note has turned into a crisp icy juniper now. It’s interesting but I smell something in here that reminds me of plastic, like the plastic of a Krampus mask perhaps? Normally I’m not keen on it but it works here. Verdict: this is a fun, playful Yule scent! I was kind of hoping for more of the leather to add depth and darkness, but the snow and fruitiness go nicely together. Backup? I’ll keep this bottle, but I prefer the Post’s Salzburg Krampuslauf scent. I might experiment with layering the two…
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A lesser-known work of art in vibrant 21st century polychrome: vanilla cream, coconut, fossilized amber, and white sandalwood. This is absolutely stunning. It reminds me a bit of Obatala, but *fancy*. I wouldn't call this a foodie perfume at all. It's classy and mature.
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Lilith in the Hall of Mirrors: marble and gilded bronze, Venetian mirrors and a drop of poison. Galerie des Glaces is, like, somebody took all the glass from House of Mirrors and put it all in really over-the-top ornate gilded frames. i should mention that i adore House of Mirrors (not the HG version, just the perfume oil version). so, in the bottle and wet before it really settles into my skin, it is very House of Mirrors~ish, but with something warmer and maybe peach/apricot~ier around the edges. but after an hour or so it morphs almost exactly into Casmir but without that Chopard back-note. i also like Casmir and have many variants of it, just FYI. based on the notes, i think a lot of folks who might really like this might've skipped it so i wanted to post my thoughts even if they're not so much a review as a babbling stream of comparisons. amber-y (but not powdery), glass, almost ozone but without the high-pitched headacheyness, almost white musk without the detergent-y-ness. petrichor in a warm fuzzy sweater, and something peach-ish hovering in there somewhere. such a pretty poison.
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Honestly, there are a lot of smells in any given airport that I probably shouldn’t translate into a perfume, but this particular scent was inspired by this radiant ribbon tree at Heathrow and the joyful little girl standing in front of it. Sparks of snow-white musk dotted with shining bulbs of blackcurrant, plum, and lavender. this is very pretty, but i think i was hoping this would be sweeter than it is. something about the snow + white musk reads as ambergris to my nose. it's lovely and cold, strong but not overpowering and definitely not foody - the blackcurrant and plum add more of a purple herbal vibe to it than *FRUIT*, and the lavender compliments it nicely. medium to strong throw. it's not something i would reach for often, but it's very sophisticated and really well blended - i may have to go for a bottle!
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Beneath the Berlin Cathedral lies the Hohenzollern family crypt. It is the final resting place of many of those who shaped the history of Berlin, and is one of the most important dynastic burial sites in Europe, with roots reaching back through centuries. The memory of an 18th-century perfume from the royal houses of the Holy Roman Empire drifting through marble-white walls: white bergamot, clementine, lime peel, grapefruit, blood orange, neroli, lavender, thyme, and tobacco. This one is what I'd consider a traditional sort of perfume - it's mainly a citrus chypre (I get whiffs of lemon, orange) and sometimes I get something that reminds me to Jean Nate. I did really enjoy this perfume, and its very clean and gender neutral. Monster throw on me.
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Even in utero, Lilith had a full head of hair. She looked like a Monchhichi when she was born, and from the moment I first saw her, I called her Bear. She’s my Baby Bear, Bunnybear, Bearington, Beanie Bear. I made up bear bedtime stories for her – we still tell each other bear jokes all the time. Every time I see a bear video or meme, I save it for her, my little Princess Bear. While we were in Berlin, we made a point of taking photos with as many Buddy Bears as possible. They’re intended to symbolize peace, tolerance, and understanding between religions, nations, and cultures worldwide, and Lilith knows how important that is – especially now. Sweet buttered rum, brown musk, wildflower honey, tonka bean, labdanum, and clove. In the bottle: buttered rum with a bit of honey. On the skin: is there cider in here? I smell something reminiscent of a crisp fizzy apple. But it’s predominantly the buttered rum, which isn’t as strong and cloying as Kill Devil or Grog were on me. This rum is sweet and caramelised, a dark spiced rum with golden honey on top. The whole thing reminds me of a mix of hot mead, mulled cider and rum punch, like what you’d have at a European Christmas market. The clove isn’t blatant, but its warm spiciness seems to enhance the scent’s festive feel. The weirdly cider-like note then tones down and the rum and honey melt into each other really nicely. The labdanum is there, that syrupy resinous base grounding the sweeter notes, and I think there’s a hint of tonka (in here, it has an almost woody smell) and furry musk too. Over time I smell more of the musk, it’s similar to the musk in Black Bear Moon, but without the berries. It definitely smells furry though, a bit like the brown fuzzy musk in the Little Brown Cat. The labdanum’s sticky sweet scent seems to enhance the treacle-like undertone of the rum. The tonka’s a bit more prominent as well. Verdict: a winner! This is a cosy fuzzy scent that is perfect for the winter months. It’s also one of the few caramelised/rum-based scents that I can pull off. Backup? Maybe. But I think I prefer Berliner Dom Antics as my favourite Berlin-themed scent of the collection (that I've tried so far).
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Lilith: “Nooooo! I don’t want to leave Salzburg!!!! I loved how it snowed, and I loved the food. I piled up on bread, mostly, but the bread was really good. And honeycomb. And bacon and sausage and eggs. I loved the outdoor hot tub thingymajigger. Being in a spa when it’s so cold outside is fun. I love the Christmas markets and I got unicorn and bat stuffy heat packs which is so cool.” Brian: “I agree with Lilith’s sentiment on this. All the cities we visited were great, but Salzburg was the most charming. I loved the Christmas markets in Berlin, but Salzburg was… – quainter? I loved the gruff and distant replies we got to questions we posed to locals. I LOVED THE KRAMPUSLAUF. You can’t beat a Krampuslauf. Plus, I got a fancy hat. A legit fancy Tyrolean hat. I love that hat.” This scent? Sachertorte. So being from Austria, home of Sachertorte, it's cool owning a perfume inspired by it. In the bottle I get booze? 😅 Yes some soak the chocolate sponge cake with liquor something. So that figures. On my skin that booze fast disappeares, I'm glad! It's chocolate, for sure but not just. I think I get some sort of fruit jam, but not sure which one. Interesting scent though! 😅 Sachertorte is chocolate sponge cake, filled with apricot jam or sometimes with red currant ("Ribisel") jam and glaced with dark chocolate frosting. The jam is always without any pits.
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Brian: “Our first morning in Salzburg, I wake up to the sound of something thudding against the window. I look outside, and Lilith is out in the snow throwing snowballs at our door. So, I put on all my snow gear – mittens, hat, boots, overcoat, the whole pile of stuff – as fast as I can, and I go outside and I realize this kid is in her just in her long johns and her mom’s snow boots, standing in the snow laughing. Beth comes out yelling for her to put her snow clothes on and to get out of Beth’s boots because she was getting snow in them. She gets changed, and we run around snowball fighting. “There’s another story – an inside joke – that if my feet get cold wherever we are, we have to go home. But I’ll save that for another time.” Lilith: “You can’t tell in the picture, but I’m in my jammies here under my coat and stuff. Me and Unkie had a snowball fight. We tried to build a snowman, but it very much failed. Unkie got me a lot with the snow, but I got him back!” A scent the color of the sun rising over Lake Fuschl: a joyful lemon ginger cologne with a touch of bay leaf and white tea. This is so bright and refreshing! It really feels like watching my girls pelt each other with snowballs and way to fucking early to be up o'clock in the morning. Bottled youthful energy. It's going to be fabulous to wear in the summer.
