Love's Philosophy

[forspecial_plate]

Vanilla, saffron, and cream.

Completely revising my review......I never was quite happy with my first review of this scent.

Ultimately, I just don't get along well with Love's Philosophy. I think it smells good briefly, but when I wear it on my skin, it is too strong, and lasts and lasts for hours (and won't wash off). It's sweet, creamy vanilla, with a little bite from the saffron, which I think is disagreeing with my nose, because it keeps reminding me of something plastic or medicinal.....or both?

It still reminds me a bit of Snow White, which also lasts forever on my skin. I can appreciate the love for Love's Philosophy, but it's just not a scent for me. Edited July 21, 2008 by Forspecial Plate

[Brianne]

This totally reminds me of Snow White. It's a warmer cousin of Snow White, without the chill or the winter flowers. I don't get the wintergreen that others smell in this scent, although it is a little crisp for some reason.

 

Could not agree more! It does smell like Snow White to me, only without the flowers and a bit warmer. It has a sort of soft and creamy scent with a touch of something crisp and cool (but it doesn't smell like mint of any kind to me). I was hoping this was going to smell remiscent of MB Underpants, but alas.... it doesn't at all. It almost has a slightly fruity undertone. Not as saffron-y as I was wanting, but it's not bad either. It's a scent that I like well enough to hold onto my bottle of, but I'm not sure how often I'd reach for it.

[maproot]

It arrived, and at first I just smelled a very light vanilla....and somehow rice pudding maybe with a light , light floral(the hint of floral I got reminded me of a daisy but do daisies smell-hmm)

 

Anyway, I may have overdone the slathering, or found my inital application comes out after a while, turning into a rich cream...buttercream frosting perhaps(in a good way)

 

Then it was dry, and it blended into my day...later on I was at a grill, and the guy manning the grill told me I smelled good. I showed him the bottle,and wrote down the website!!

 

It's a ladylike scent, but not old-fashioned, and by ladylike, I mean not old ladylike, and the ladylike encompasses everyone who wants a slightly warm vanilla that is subtle and could be an everyday favorite.

 

ADDED Feb. 22:

 

cream cream cream, and I just ordered another bottle, after considering that I'd used about a third of my existing bottle.it feels very soft on me once it'sdry,and very faint, and tome,doesn't have much throw, but I still loveit...about the throw I must be wrong,because a friend mentioned that I smelledgood in class the other evening. I just sent him the link tobpalas amatter of fact,and my Love'sPhilosphy did lead to a discussion about french perfume houses.

 

This feels like a "good girl" perfume,but won'tstopme from wearing it. i dont know where the saffronis or went, as it hasn't yet made it's presence known to me, but the vanilla is not too sweet so this is very wearable and worthy of daily slathering.

[TheIceMaiden]

Love's Philosophy was an odd scent on me as it went back and forth between being gorgeous and well, not so nice. It started off a rich vanilla frosting scent. I next got the wintergreen-like note, but that was brief as well. The saffron came up next and the vanilla went into a "cheap candle" phase as some people have mentioned - waxy artifical vanilla. The drydown, however, was a gorgeous natural vanilla.

 

I loved the opening and dry stage of Love's Philosophy so I think I'm going to age this to see if that odd middle stage goes away. The closest scent to this, to me, was last year's Eggnog, which also had an odd vanilla stage. Love's Philosophy certainly wasn't close to Underpants as I had hoped. But it has potential to be a lovely scent...I hope!

[tinyvulture]

sweet, creamy vanilla -- a lovely scent for all seasons. the vanilla cream reminds me of the Candy Butcher. but, i wouldn’t call this a foody scent. a light touch of exotic saffron is the perfect spicy complement. it’s long lasting and doesn’t turn into play-doh or banana. simple, feminine, gorgeous.

[strangemodegirl]

Thankfully I did not get any hint of the wintergreen some people are getting and none of the cheap vanilla candle. Just a beautiful and very long lasting creamy vanilla, like a really good, homemade vanilla frosting with just a touch of the saffron.

I wore it for three days straight and couldn't stop huffing my wrist the entire time.

I am so in love with this scent, I don't regret buying 3 bottles!

[miss_rynn]

My problem with a lot of vanilla scents is that they end up either too old-lady-perfumy or too girlish and almost insincere. I have to admit, I was dreading Love's Philosophy being either too much like Underpants (which gives me a terrible head-ache) or too much like vanilla orchid, which has too floral a note to satisfy me.

 

I was completely surprised when I opened the bottle!

 

This is a tangy vanilla, like vanilla yoghurt. It's not a soured cream smell like the older Milk Moon was, but a slightly acidic dairy smell, with a balsamic vanilla, not a cloying one.

 

On the skin it fades a fair bit and picks up a dry cakeish smell, but is still very pleasant.

 

Very surprising, and very nice indeed!

[NatCatz]

I didn't get wintergreen or vanilla candles, just sweet deep vanilla..

The longer I wear it, the deeper it seems to smell, becoming an almost smokey spice smell under the vanilla.. I'm wondering about 5mls

[vegasblueblood]

On initially sniffing the bottle, I went 'mmmm!'. It is a gorgeous buttercreamy vanilla scent, very much like the vanilla frosting some have mentioned. A few minutes after applying, the odd little wintergreen note starts to emerge on me though I am not sure I would call it wintergreen. It's crisp and vaguely minty, almost like a breath of fresh cool air, but I can't quite put my finger on what it is. Luckily, it doesn't overpower and the lovely buttercream vanilla scent is starting to come back to the forefront and the saffron is also starting to emerge. This is really beautiful and I'm hoping that funny little 'minty' note will mellow out as the bottle ages. Really great vanilla scent!

 

Edited to add: It's now about 15 minutes after applying and this now smells like Midway! Seriously. I looooove Midway, it's probably my favorite BPAL scent. It has that same delicious sugary sweetness that Midway has on me. I might need another bottle of this before the Lupercalia scents retire!

Edited February 19, 2008 by twistedophelia

[LittleGreyKitten]

This scent is amazing. Despite the simple components listed, it smells incredibly complex and luxurious on me. Though the vanilla and cream are noticeable and quite amazing, there is a certain je ne sais quois that is just deadly good. I do smell the saffron note that made Underpants so wildly delicious and unusual. This scent is like Underpants's first cousin- it is similar but yet has it's own thing going. I think it might be an almost wintergreen-like aspect, though it isn't minty... I love it, whatever it is. I would say that if I ever run out of Underpants, I could assuage my pain with Love's Philosophy. I love the label, too- very minimalist and cute! I find that this has good throw and lasts quite well. I look forward to seeing how it mellows with age, too.

 

5 out of 5, hoardable in fact.

[Suu4LC]

In the imp this is strong vanilla buttercream. Like a heavily iced cream cheese frosting vanilla cupcake! Yum!

 

Whoa, it goes VERY wintergreen on my skin! Weird...I need to wait for this to drydown to see what this is really going to morph into...

 

...now it's totally vanilla candle with just a little hint of the wintergreen. It seems to have settled into Vanilla Candle scent. Exactly like Vanilla candle.

 

It's nice. I may need a bottle of this, but it didn't blow me away like I had hoped it would.

 

ETA: I did order a bottle of this and I am in love with it. I find it so yummy and comforting. I still think it reminds me of a vanilla candle, but in a good way-in the way that I can walk around and feel like there is an expensive delicious vanilla candle in every room I enter. Wonderful.

Edited March 25, 2008 by Suu4LC

[heartlilly]

I really like this, but I'm not sure how to describe it at all.

It is like a thick rich almost buttery vanilla. Sweet, kind of like Antique Lace, but darker/richer somehow. There is something bright in here too (doesn't quite smell like wintergreen to me though). It does remind me a lot of Midway, though not exactly the same. It really is great.

[sookster]

straight sniff from bottle is thick, sweet vanilla cream

with what seems to have a distinct sassafras kick...hmmm...

 

once applied this smells exactly as it did in the bottle but

has a touch of a cotton candiness to it...that sassafras note

i get has got to be the saffron...no morphing here...

 

 

this is strangely intoxicating...

[tarotgirl99]

When I bought an imp of Monsterbait: Underpants, I remember disliking it and trading it off.

 

But you know how it is--people keep going on and on about Underpants being the greatest scent evah and you wonder if you were too precipitous in swapping it.

 

So, when Love's Philosophy came around, I thought I needed to revisit these notes.

 

And while they aren't scent twins, as soon as I put Love's Philosophy on, it evoked the scent memory of Underpants (what a sentence!).

 

And I can breathe a sigh of relief, because LP has the same plasticky sweetness I remember from Underpants. It doesn't work for me at all.

 

Lots of throw, though. And I have a sad feeling it's going to be a long-lasting scent, too. I may have to scrub it off.

Edited February 22, 2008 by tarotgirl

[pinkstardust420]

Love this! Sexy vanilla cream! Almost like buttercream frosting. The saffron is just a distant memory in this scent. Very pretty!!

[semuelle77]

I am really sad to say that I am with tarotgirl on this one. I wanted to love this, but it just ain't working on me. The first 45 seconds on my skin was great. I briefly got the wintergreen scent, but it was not bad. As it dried down it became hardcore vanilla. Not a soft, wafting vanilla, but a smack you in the face kind. I think I may understand what others talk about when they mention smelling plasticky. I felt like I smelled like Strawberry Shortcake's vanilla frosting friend. I only applied a toothpick swipe of it on my wrists and another on my neck. By no means did I douse myself. I could smell it all day long. Strong. This baby has so much throw that one of my 6th grade boys asked what smelled like vanilla. I had to admit that it was his teacher. Hopefully I can find a loving home for this imp since it will be getting no love from me.

[puck_nc]

Origin: decant from a circle by eviltemptressdq

 

Initial Thoughts: Since the one thing that kept me from wearing MB: Underpants unlayered was the boozy rum note, I was definitely eager to try this.

 

In the Bottle: Very vanilla-sweet. It's almost buttercream-frosting level, except for something spicy-herby that I think is the saffron.

 

Wet: The saffron comes out strong on me, beating the vanilla into a quivering lump of submission. It's still a sweet scent, but now it's a sweet herby scent instead of strongly vanilla.

 

Drydown: The saffron/spice element heats up a bit and I finally get a hint of the cream. It reminds me strongly of something, I want to say something medicinal, but I just can't pin it down.

 

Verdict: I could see myself using up the decant in a scent locket, but I'm not sure it's something I'll wear.

[gwynhwyfar]

This reminds me of Underpants. It's so heavily creamy from the bottle that I haven't yet gotten past that to try it out on my skin. I don't have a lot of luck with those creamy scents and I fear that this one will be another failure.

 

Under the cream, there's a hint of something almost minty and chill, as well as a faint hint of what is clearly saffron (I sniffed the small packet for comparison and it's dead-on). Because of my love of saffron, I'll probably get brave and test it, and edit this post accordingly.

 

For anyone who likes rich, creamy scents, this seems likely to be a winner. For me, it pales in comparison with other Lupercalia blends.

[Wench457]

In the bottle, this reminds me strongly of Underpants. For me, that's not a good thing. New York cheesecake complete with sour cream topping. Sour, nearly curdled cream. I am nervous.

 

Then I put it on, and immediately got the strong wintergreen scent many people have noted. I am a particular fan of wintergreen, so I find this phase pleasant, but only that. I probably wouldn't keep it that's all I got, as the combination of the wintergreen and cream reminds me a bit of Pepto Bismol. This phase only lasted a short while on me though, perhaps five minutes.

 

The drydown is making me swoon, however. I am surrounded with a fluffy cloud of vanilla cream deliciousness that wafts up to my nose as I move. The saffron is clearly present, and serves to ground the scent with a light muskiness and keep it from going too sweet, without the bitterness that saffron can sometimes have. I want to run up to strangers and say "Sniff me! Don't I smell amazing?!" I will definitely be stocking up on this one before it gets away.

[maribouquet]

Play-doh, says my skin

[anjimama]

Super sweet and creamy soft, it reminded me immediately of my sister who wore Love's Baby Soft for years when we were kids in the 70's. I liked it but I thought she would love it so I gave it to her. She loves it!

[visualworlds]

Weird. I get absolutely no likeness to Underpants. They are completely different.

 

This smells like wintergreen with a slight sweet creaminess underneath. Not really that impressed.

[cameroncrazed]

So, MB: Underpants is at the top of my list for all time favs, and I was expecting this one to be similar. Actually, I was working under the impression that if Underpants is the slightly sinful older sister who wears leather and kisses (and more) all the boys at the bar, that Love's Philosophy would be the more innocent younger sister who flirts with the high school quarterback but doesn't do more than that - I was really hoping for that same vanilla/saffron combo, only without the edge of the sandalwood and rum.

 

Instead, I got 2 hours of hospital sanitizer hiding under a thin veneer of spearmint before the vanilla came out to play, and it was a very florally vanilla. Very very similar to Antique Lace to my nose, once the spearmint/sanitzer combo disappeared. No hint of the saffron at all.

 

I was really hopeful for this one, but it's not for me.

Edited February 24, 2008 by BellaKatrina

[Peaches 2]

I had such great hopes for Love's Philosophy, since I have had a recent love affair with the saffron in Leo 2007. Alas, my hopes were dashed, as I can detect no saffron at all. In the bottle, I smell the sweet buttercream frosting mentioned by others, with just a hint of butterscotch. On my skin, I smell for all the world like DaVinci Sugar Free Vanilla Syrup. The scent never morphs, deepens or otherwise develops with further wear, just DaVinci Vanilla. It lasts a fairly long while, and has great throw, but it is nothing like I was expecting. I'm going to age it for a few months to see if I can get any more of the saffron to peep out. 2.5 out of 5.

[willowlux]

This is interesting. It is creamy and warm, yet there is a lingering "frost" hidden behind the other notes. On first wiff I got a buttercream frosting scent, the initial application smelled like what a vanilla peppermint patty might smell like. But upon dry down it was Marshmallow Poof! The "frost" scent vanished completely and this was exactly like the poof on my skin. Woohoo! The throw is nice and the scent lasted about an hour or 2 before disappearing.