Loup Garou

[Isuke]

The wild, untamed essence of lycanthropy. Primeval in its raw power and insatiable hunger: juniper, cypress and galangal with the barest touch of eucalyptus.

Ick! Ickickick! Loup Garou is a very green, foresty scent and just not my thing. People that like that sorta thing will LOVE IT. Me, I'm not a fan of smelling like a Christmas tree. n.n; Trade.

[inkmonkeys]

This is an incredibly lovely evergreen scent. I've been looking for exactly this kind of fragrance for a very long time. Thank you so much to the Lab for frimping me this, which I would not have picked out on my own and which I now adore, evergreen-loving Aquarian that I am.

 

It begins with a very distinct melding of juniper (I think?) and eucalyptus (think: walking in Palo Alto, California on an amazing warm and breezy day). It softens to a piney wood that is just meltingly lovely. Although I found this wonderfully cooling on a hot day (this is by no means only a winter scent), make no mistake: this is not snow-on-the-fir-tree evergreen. This is a warm, alive, wolves-nestling-nearby evergreen. The initial cool feelng warms up (and becomes richer) over the development of the oil.

The only drawback is that, on my skin at least, it fades to almost nothing in 30-45 minutes. I say drawback because the scent is so gorgeous that I'd love it to hang around for hours. No worries: I'm definitely getting a 5 ml of this in my next order, then I can slather it on at will and not fret about it fading from my senses too early.

 

If you are a lover of wood scents, of piney-evergreen scents, of a different take on a cooling summer scent: try this one. It's really beautiful.

[dragonryder]

This one is a no no no. The pine scent was very strong in the bottle, and proceded to get worse with wear.

[PurringPulsar]

Loup Garou

 

In the imp: fresh, piercing, nose-clearing eucalyptus and juniper! I could use this when I have a cold…

Wet on skin: still that shrill blast of juniper and eucalyptus.

Dry on skin: there's a hint of something sweeter coming through, and a little hint of dry cypress, but this blend is dominated by the pine-like piercing scent of juniper and cool eucalyptus, a scent both forest-y and ice cold…and also quite medicinal. My sinuses would love this if they were bunged up. It's not a bad scent but for now, it smells more like a cold remedy than anything else.

After a while: it's less eucalyptus-y now, and has faded a lot…the scent is now the remains of juniper on a soft cypress wood base. I get a little bit of warmth behind it-the galangal maybe? It's a very faint scent now, but quite pleasant.

And after a while I get a soft, very faint scent of…sandalwood? Where does that come from? Did the cypress magically morph into sandalwood? I don’t mind though…I really like this stage (yum, sandalwood!), I just wish it could be stronger.

Verdict: this was an unusual one. At first it smelt piercing and sharp, that mind and nose clearing scent of eucalyptus and juniper, a bright jolt of scent…but it smelt a tad medicinal, like something I could use to unblock a cold-clogged nose. But the drydown smelt a lot nicer…like sandalwood, funnily enough. Not sure if that's the cypress mixed with galangal or what, but it was a dead ringer for sandalwood and very pleasant indeed-but so damn faint. I had to do some serious close wrist snorting to smell it…which is a shame. I'm not sure whether to keep this or not-it smells nice but doesn't smell strong enough for me to really like it.

Emoticon rating:

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

always hoping for a chypre to crawl out of a cypress blend, i am...

 

eucalyptus always makes me fell like i'm choking/drowning/can't breathe...

 

juniper is lovely, in small doses.

 

this makes me feel like a sick christmas tree in bed with a headcold.

 

it does settle down into something less medicine-y smelling, but it takes awhile to get to that middle-of-the-forest smell, which is lovely... but to me not worth the journey.

[CelestialNM]

For me, unlike the scent description, eucalyptus is all I can smell in the imp. I get an even more Vick's Vapo Rub than I did with Jabberwocky.

 

Wet: Lots of eucalyptus, still, but I'm getting some juniper and cypress. This is delicate, not masculine at all to me, incredible, wonderful, sensational, and...

 

....gone. Within less than two minutes, completely gone from my skin. Not a single lingering note left. My skin just eats this up. *sigh* And the imp top broke this time so I ended up mixing it in lotion.

 

This obviously didn't work for me, even though for a brief, passing moment, it was absolutely glorious.

Edited July 22, 2006 by CelestialNM

[edenssixthday]

Loup Garou is a traditionally masculine scent, but naturally, I wanted to try it out. The Lab's description says it has "the barest touch of eucalyptus," but I smelled Eucalyptus when I had only barely opened the vial. Strong and medicinal, like camphor, or Vick's Vap-O-Rub, this scent assaults both my nose and my eyes. Behind the camphor/eucalyptus scent is the barest touch of evergreen trees, a scent I normally don't enjoy, but which is refreshing and kind when juxtaposed with the harsh, biting eucalyptus. I won't be passing this one on my to my husband. It's incredibly unappealing and makes me think of nebulizers, vaporizers, and sick people.

[The_Merf]

In the imp: Very, very sharp. I'm going to attribute this to the juniper, because I like cypress, and I don't think this smells like eucalyptus.

 

Wet: This is piercing. Juniper and I have an unsteady relationship, and I think the eucalyptus might be more culpable here than I originally figured.

 

Drydown and wear: This becomes very interesting--it settles and somehow goes from sharp to "highlighting." This is what I imagine skin turned blue under the moonlight would smell like. Another fascinating creation from the Lab!

[storme]

In the imp: woody eucalyptus and gin.

 

On me, wet: sweet piney eucalyptus and menthol. Man, this is sinus-clearing. Like sticking a tube of Vick's VapoRub up your nose.

 

On me, dry: No significant change - it gets a bit more woodsy, but only to the extent that there's some cedar twigs up my nose with the metholy eucalyptus. Crazy.

 

Verdict: I don't have a cold - if I did this would probably break through it. But I could just use VapoRub for the same effect, and for any other purposes I don't want to smell like this. I don't think I'll bother keeping the imp of this around.

[supremegoddessofall]

Holy chemical pine, batman! I feel like I just ran into a giant mutant Christmas tree. Definitely not for me. A bit later on, it gets a bit of candy tone to it, under the evergreen smell. But I still don't like it.

 

My girlfriend says it smells like Pine Sol.

 

Score: 1 out of 5

[AliBabble]

wow! i like this! this was a frimp from the lab, and one that i never thought to try - it is foresty - trees, evergreen trees...a bit turpentine- y, but i like that. it seems to sweeten up and soften, just slightly, the longer i wear it. it's got quite a bit of energy to it - invigorating, like the wolf running through the trees. not sure how much i'll actually wear it, but i do enjoy the scent quite a bit. it wakes you up!

[for_the_nonce]

When wet, this is entirely eucalyptes on me, but not in an unpleasant, medicinal way. I actually rather like it.

 

Dry, the eucalyptes calms down *alot.* Eucalyptes is still the top note, but underneath there's are piney and woody notes, as well as something slightly sweet. It's a really *subtle* blend and warm, if that makes sense. This reminds me of sun-warmed pine needles on the forest floor.

 

This one is fading fast, but its really, really nice. This has grown on me so quickly that, in the course of writing this review, I've decided its a new favorite! Also, very gender neutral; def. not too masculine.

 

 

ETA: I strongly get the impression of the sun filtering down through the trees with this one, even though its a werewolf blend. Go figure...

Edited December 1, 2006 by for_the_nonce

[Dymphna]

In the imp: Strongly woodsy, piney scent, though not as sharp as I'd expected based on the description. It actually makes me want to try it rather than wanting to close up the imp and back away, and I regret letting the imp languish for so long.

 

Wet: At first, it's just like in the imp. Then, after a minute: Ohhhh, pine! It's like sticking my face into a Christmas tree. It's not really pine, it's the juniper, but all the wintry trees tend to blur together in my head.

 

Dry: It gets sharp for a moment and then softens up beautifully. The throw is minimal, so I have to really stick my wrist to my nose to smell it, but it's worth it. After about ten minutes, it becomes this very soft, woodsy scent with a hint of masculine (but not overpowering) musk. After another twenty minutes or so, it's all but gone, with just the barest hint of a cool, dark, woodsy fragrance, like sitting at an open window on a winter night and getting a waft of scent from the woods. I have to try this on my husband. On me, it smells beautiful but very faint. It reminds me of walking on a winter night, when everything is cold and silent and the air is crystal clear. It certainly doesn't make me think of werewolves at all. There's nothing fierce or dangerous about it. (Also, bonus, no eucalyptus on me!)

 

On my husband: It does last longer on him, and the throw is slightly better. The pine scent lasts longer on him and goes through all these phases--including moments of coconut!--before settling into a soft, close-to-the-skin scent. I'm trying to think how to describe it. I was going to say dusty, but it's not dusty because it's not dry. And it's not earthy because it doesn't smell like dirt. I guess it just makes me think of the soft, inches-thick carpet of leaves and needles that make up the floor of a forest. It's really beautiful, not scary at all.

[waternight]

In the imp: slightly sweet herbal wood, with just a hint of cool eucalyptus.

 

Wet: I get strong juniper, which I love. It's a very wet, sappy smell. I get just the barest hint of eucalyptus peeking out once in a while, but I have to search for it - the scent is mostly warmer than eucalyptus. I also catch whiffs of something faintly lemony - galangal?

 

Dry: Sadly, this goes totally powdery on me. I smell like baby powder. It makes me really sad, because I was really excited about this oil, and I LOVE the way it smells wet and in the imp. My skin just ate it right up and turned it into powder.

 

Verdict: Alas, I cannot wear Loup Garou. I might save it for a room scent, as I do adore it, but I'll probably end up giving it to a male friend.

Edited December 26, 2006 by waternight

[ilona]

The eucalyptus was a little scary there in the beginning! Luckily, the medicinal Vicks-iness fades fast and the woods come shining through. This smells like a freshly cut piece of pine, with the sap starting to seep out. It's a very fresh woods smell. Fades pretty fast.

 

I really like it because it is so evocative of the forest, but I prefer my pines a little sweeter, like Skadi.

[tinyvulture]

this one reminds me a LOT of my beloved black forest, with its heavy juniper and pine notes -- but with the addition of sinus-clearing eucalyptus. i think i'll stick with black forest as my "foresty" scent, but this might be good for aromatherapy or when allergies are bothering me. very nice.

[Brianne]

In the vial:

Clean, aftershave-y kind of smell

 

On me:

Goes on crisp and clean and foresty. A sharp pine backed by sharper eucalyptus. The juniper gives a faint crisp but fruity feel to the background. There is something a little woody in there too, but it's quite faint - must be that cypress. This is definitely appropriate for Loup Garou - it's a forest blend that's for sure. I think it's delightfully clean smelling though.

 

Final note:

Definitely masculine, but quite nice. Those that like forest scents or clean herbal scents will probably enjoy this one. I think this would make a really great soap, it's masculine but has a wonderful bite to it.

[theseagrows]

at first i get a vicks vapo rub scent from this, which i think is the eucalyptus. dry, it smells like pine and juniper, very foresty. not bad, just not very me.

[BlueStarGirl]

Initially this scent reminded me of Twenty One, which I enjoy.

 

Wet Loup Garou gave me a strong sense memory of crawling around the hills at my grandfather's house as a kid, then went sort of cedar chest-ish and now it's extremely pine-y and maybe giving me a bit of a headache.

 

It really is a lovely scent, just not so much as a perfume for me. If I was in a position to use room scents this might be excellent as one, but alas I am not, so this will have to be a trade.

Edited February 25, 2007 by BlueStarGirl

[stellans]

In the imp: juniper in the rain -- a wet, evergreen smell.

 

Wet on skin: again, juniper but now I smell the cypress and there's the eucalyptus peeking through.

 

Dry: Oh. Oh my. This dries down wonderfully into a fresh, clean cold smell that makes me want to drive up into the mountains. The eucalyptus (that I love on its own) is just barely there, which is just fine, because the juniper and cypress are what make this scent. I don't know the galangel, but if it's what helps this oil mellow on me this way, I say bring it on.

 

Verdict: I love this. I want this oil. In huge quantities. Now.

 

Is it a keeper? Oh yes, and it's a hoarder too.

Edited May 2, 2008 by stellans

[filigree_shadow]

This is really strong and has way too much eucalyptus in it for my liking. To be honest I always avoid all the notes listed for this blend, so it really didn't stand much of a chance that I'd like it. And... I really don't like it.

[Shitow_Haruka]

This was an imp with my locket. Thanks, Puddin'.

first sniff: eucalyptus and conifers.

 

wet: Eucalyptus dominates at first. After about 30 minutes, the juniper and cypress come to the fore.

 

dry: After about four hours, my skin has eaten this oil. In my scent locket, it lasted longer.

 

This scent reminds me of a walk in autumn when no leaves are left. These are young, densely-growing junipers that you are pushing your way through, out in a field being taken back by the woods. The air around you feels crisp and cool, like the first flakes of snow may soon float down.

 

I had stuffy sinuses this morning when I got up, and now they're fine. I may not reach for this regularly as a perfume, but I'll keep it around for it's head-clearing properties.

[hypatia]

In the bottle: Hello, eucalyptus!

 

Just on: Eucalyptus and evergreens (I can't tell the cypress and juniper apart).

 

After a while: The cool evergreen notes start to warm up, and something ginger-y comes out. I think it's the galangal, which (Wikipedia tells me) is related to ginger but tastes more earthy and piney. The warmer spicier note changes the whole blend; I like the forest greens, but I like this stage even better. It's as if the wolf came in from outdoors and curled up in front of the hearth.

Eventually: Mellow woods with whiffs of evergreen in the background.

 

This is perfect on me: cool and atmospheric and refreshing to start with, then almost edible when the galangal (?) takes over, and finally a nice subtle woodsy scent. It would be even more perfect if my skin didn't completely swallow it up after a few hours, but still, I may get a big bottle.

 

So far I've loved Fenris Wolf, Luperci, and now Loup Garou. I'm really digging the Lab's werewolf blends so far. Aroo!

[xoe]

At first wet on my skin, this is very strong eucalyptus/medicine scented. That quickly calms down and becomes a lovely woody blend. Very nice

[Extispex]

Lately I've been on a 'wolf' kick, trying to track down everything with a vaguely wolfy theme. So of course this was on my must-try list. Now its on my 'must-buy' list. Gotta have a bottle - I'm a sucker for cypress anyway.

 

In the vial, a big evergreen scent.

 

Wet on my skin, the eucalyptus amps up for a moment or two, clearing my sinuses and and taking on a vague 'pine-sol meets vicks vapor-rub' fragrance.

 

On dry-down this is a beauty. Sharp cypress, heady juniper and the bite of eucalyptus make this one very energetic, woodsy but there's also an underlying 'prettiness'. Its like being lost deep in a forest, almost overpowered by the dangerous majesty of nature, yet not so scared that one doesn't notice the delicate frond of a fern, or the color of a wildflower.

 

Loup Garou isn't dark and musky like many of the other 'wolfy' scents, but one can only wear so much darkness (right? ). The sharp and lovely freshness of Loup-Garou makes this one stand out among similarly themed scents.

 

It does fade on me more quickly than I would prefer, but I sometimes make lotions out of my favorite scents and layer the oil over the lotion to get a longer lasting fragrance. I'm sure that'll work with this one.