Lovers with Rutting Cats

[wikkidraven]

Vanilla, red ginger, oakmoss, palm date, and oud.

This scent starts out surprisingly strong and sweet, with lashings of date and vanilla over soft spice but the deeper notes surface soon enough. The more you sniff it, the more it seems to morph. In the drydown the agarwood and oakmoss take root and the wet spell foodiness dissipates. I'm left with a warm, comforting scent that hugs the skin. It threatens to become plasticky baby powder at times, but holds strong. As someone else mentioned I also feel like I'm detecting a little honey in there, but I may be mistaken.

My switch witch chose this for me and I'm incredibly glad she made such a wise choice

[kjirstiben]

In the bottle, this is sweet vanilla, with something almost buttery-smelling with it. On my skin, however, all the sweetness disappears and I am left with a funny, sharp, non-sweet smell. Might it be the red ginger? I can't tell.

 

As it dries down, that odd, distinctive smell stays with me close to the skin. The scent I get far away, though, is a lovely vanilla-ginger.

 

After two hours, the scent goes from "funny" to sour, in the distinctive way that things go bad for me. I held out hope that this would just be a transitional stage, but after several hours, I had to admit defeat. Such a pretty scent in the bottle, and I read such good things about it! Unfortunately, between an ingredient that didn't like me right away, and then the vanilla that doesn't like my skin chemistry, this one just didn't have a chance. Sigh.

 

Because I liked it in the bottle, I'm still going to try it in my hair and/or in a scent locket, and see if that way I get a better experience!

 

Recaplet: Went from funny to sour--a skin chemistry disaster.

My rating: 1 of 5 (I'm not fond of it.)

Color impression: Yellowy beige.

[MCS4096]

In the bottle: straight up cream cheese frosting surprisingly

 

Wet: The ginger really comes out-- it's very dry. But this is still super yummy!

 

Drying down: Dries down veeery quickly, and as others have said the foodie vanilla mostly goes away and it becomes dry woods, mosses and ginger. I wish a bit more of the wet stage remained, but the transformation is interesting! It ends up as a shea butter and subtle ginger smell (this is not harsh spicy ginger, don't worry!) Maybe the transformation represents the realization that comes over you when you realize your sexy time has been one upped by a couple of frisky felines Starts sweet, ends a bit.. odd

 

ETA: It took me a little while to realize what this reminded me of (granted I've been ) but seriously, this smells a bit like a "parchment" note! Shea butter and the pages of a new book.

 

ETA: So as I sat reading before bed last night I could barely get through a page without having to stop and huff my wrist. I'm not sure what it is about this blend, but it's grown on me super fast! I think I will buy a back up bottle with my last lupercallia order!

Edited February 28, 2009 by MCS4096

[gchris]

in vial:buttery, maple, sugary are the words that come to mind.

 

wet:mmm. something unusual. reminds me of something I have smelled from a long time ago. I am smelling the vanilla more clearly now but there is something strong and unusual behind it.

 

Dry: this vanilla is coming into full bloom which is a good thing but there is the "something else" there that I cannot identify that keeps me from loving this blend.

[MisterShrapnel]

For some reason, the first thing this scent reminded me of was that pink liquid penicillin stuff that I had to take once when I was very young. It has that indescribable sweet foody something to it. Maybe the date and ginger combination. That's not a bad thing--after that one illness I feigned sick maybe three times in hopes of getting more of that medicine, I loved the taste so much. I kept asking for it at annual check-ups. I guess I was a little weird.

Hehe, this IS a little "freaky" (to quote a previous reviewer)... but I quite like it. Lovers With Rutting Cats also reminds me a little of Love's Philosophy, if you took out the wintergreen.

Bizarre vanilla ginger YUM, and you can't beat that obscene label art. I'll take a bottle for sure.

[blu°]

On me, too, this smells creamy and almost buttery at first and then after a couple of minutes on my skin goes very dry, even dusty. I know there's no cinnamon in it, but because of the dustiness it makes me think cinnamon.

 

So far I like it. I'm not quite sure what it is I'm smelling, I can't really make out the ginger - which is usually much less dry on me and has a tendency to go cloying -, nor the date, nor the oud or oakmoss. It's just a warm, dusty, spicy-sweet something, a bit too dusty maybe. The only other things this reminds me of right now are TAL Determination, and maybe The Potter's Field. They all seem to share a terracotta-tinged dustiness.

 

Will have to give this a full-day full-application test before I decide whether I like it enough for a bottle or not.

 

ETA: After my full-day-test yesterday, I don't think I'll need more of this. It's not that I don't like it, I'm quite fascinated by it...

 

At first it makes *my* head turn and look for the carnival food stands. It totally smells like there were some stands selling crêpes or roasted almonds nearby.

 

Some hours into drydown I get a glorious dark smoky incense/burnt firewood smell (must be the oud), which made me sniff my wrists almost continuously. It was really beautiful, but somehow I didn't feel comfortable with it. I'd much more wanted to smell it on a man that I'm cuddled up to, or standing next to on top of a wind-toppled hill.

 

The scent is not at all cologney or distinctly masculine, just more of a smell I'd enjoy on somebody with the strong shoulder to lean onto than on myself. Smelling this on me was getting on my nerves a little yesterday with the scent's beauty and its not-being-a-me-scent, lol.

 

I'll definitely keep my decant, and if I had the right man to put this on, I'd buy a couple of bottles for sure.

Edited March 6, 2009 by blu°

[AEris]

Lovers with Rutting Cats is almost a dead-on replication of Red Lantern with my chemistry. It's got the same sickeningly sweet smoky caramel tone.

 

It's a bit too intense for me, I'd have to be in a serious mood to choose it as my perfume for the day. Today's not that day, so my perfume is clashing with my emotions. : -)

 

I'm not a big fan.

[scrappy]

On my skin, Lovers with Rutting Cats turns to a nice, creamy vanilla with a hint of ginger.

[citharadraconis]

In the vial, it's quite sweet and creamy, all vanilla and very pretty. On me, though, the first impression I get is (of all things) grape Tylenol. I have no idea where that's coming from, but there it is. Grape Tylenol or possibly cough syrup; maybe it's the palm date combined with the dark sharpness of the oud. As it dries I get that Chapstick-like feeling that I got from Love's Philosophy and whatever that pear/vanilla Haunted House scent was, so I guess there's the same vanilla in this; and the cough syrup overtones still linger unpleasantly. I really wanted to like this (vanilla ginger? Yesplz), but I guess we're not to be.

Edited March 4, 2009 by citharadraconis

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Bright yellow oil. Sweet and foody. Vanilla galore! Like sweet vanilla frosting, with a hint of spicy fresh ginger.

 

Wet: Almost boozy, more fruity (the date, maybe?), but still mostly vanilla frosting. The red ginger is delicious and stronger.

 

Dry: Going plastic quickly, and the oude is emerging, making this drier, more masculine. Spicier and spicier ginger.

 

Later: Sparkling? Yeah, the red ginger went sparkling. And I'm not getting any oakmoss. The date is very much like date - heavy, sweet.

 

Summary: Fake, plasticky, cloying vanilla frosting with sparkling, zesty ginger and rich, almost chewy date. Dry, masculine oude beneath it all. Very strong throw.

 

Sadly, the sickening vanilla of the sort I most despise sent me running for the sink. Won't wash off...though now I AM getting the oakmoss.

 

[Schmoozy]

Slightly fruity, spicy vanilla. Feels and smells dry. Curses vanilla. It's going plastic. Damn.

[awesomeoverlord]

Come away with me, fair reader, on a journey into the world of lovers and frisky felines...imagine yourself sitting down to eat a large cake -- buttery, tooth-achingly sweet, and covered with about three times as much frosting as any confection has a right to have. Not to be so easily dissuaded, you pick up a forkful -- ahh, this is better -- gingery spice, musk, and dusty powdery moss. Relieved and hopeful, you take a bite...

 

...and end up chewing on your plastic fork as the cake magically disappears in a poof of powdery smoke.

[PurringPulsar]

Lovers with Rutting Cats

 

In the imp: a creamy but plastic-y vanilla, reminds me of Opuhi and Stimulating Sassafras.

Wet on skin: ginger, vanilla and something reminiscent of medicinal sassafras?

Dry on skin: a vanilla-ginger scent which reminds me of Opuhi, and I didn’t like Opuhi. The ginger is stronger, drier and grittier than Opuhi, and has that slightly rubbery undertone that I’m not keen on. The vanilla, which I was looking forward to, happens to be that plastic vanilla note from the likes of Love’s Philosophy and Stimulating Sassafras Strengthener-complete with a medicinal sassafras note. I can smell a dry scrubby wood-either the palm or the oud? But this is not as strong as the overpowering vanilla-ginger with plastic and chemical tones.

After a while: sadly this is going from fail to fail on me. the scent is not as gingery but it is more plastic than ever now, even though it’s lost that sassafras thing from before. It turns out this vanilla is the foody scent that, as of late, has been turning to this really unpleasant plastic-paper scent on me, a kind of weird mix between damp cardboard, burnt paper and burnt plastic, with a sweet overtone. And it’s even more heartbreaking because I swear I smell incense when I sniff this far from the wrist, but close up it’s burnt vanilla plastic! Where are the palm and oud? Even the moss is absent…

Verdict: I’m a cat lover and I really wanted to love this for the name. And theoretically, this should have been at least good on me. None of the notes are particularly bad on me for the most part. But it seems the vanilla was the cloying and plastic variety and the ginger was the rubbery variety. And there was a sassafrasy thing to the vanilla that I really didn’t like, made it smell a bit like sweet antiseptic. I never got any of the oud and palm notes, just burnt-rubber ginger and plastic vanilla, and it didn’t improve on me at all. Such a let down, ruined by my skin that seems to be turning more intolerant to some of the gourmand notes.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? no, sadly…I wasn’t expecting my skin to turn this into a cat-astrophe (bad pun, I know!)

If you like this, try: Stimulating Sassafras Strengthener, Love’s Philosophy, Opuhi

[astarinel]

In the decant and on while wet, this is a very thick, rich, foody vanilla to the exclusion of pretty much everything else.

 

This is when I begin to worry, because although I love vanilla, there's a particular vanilla that does not love me back and I fear this may be it. As it dries, the first other note to emerge is the ginger, followed by a sort of thick fruitiness I assume is the date. These are both still playing second fiddle to this rich, cakey vanilla.

 

Although the vanilla recedes as it dries... there's something. Odd. I wouldn't say plasticky, as I would have re: the Snowblind debacle, but there's definitely something going a bit weird/sour/off in this scent. Everyone I made sniff it agreed that it was faintly unpleasant. Not bad, but not something I'd like to smell for any length of time.

 

Sadly, not a keeper.

[Juushika]

In the vial: A touch of purple fruit and spices against thick, warm, creamy vanilla (like Antique Lace, but without the florals). The fruit and spice give it warmth and color, and all I can say is "god this is good."

 

On me: For the first half hour, the date amps up to a sticky sweet rich fruit teetering on the line of artifical. But after that half hour, it fades considerably. Red ginger and a touch of oud are the star, a warm, slightly smoky spice that grounds the sweet fruit. The vanilla remains through it all (the oud's smoke conceals it slightly, but only when sniffed up close)—it's rich, smooth, and almost liquid, but not too sweet. Scent-color is red gold; throw is high drying down to medium-low.

 

Verdict: When I sniff my skin directly, the oud is a little too smoky-dry for me. But from a distance, floating around me in a whispered haze of scent, Rutting Cats is simply lovely. The vanilla is rich and creamy, colored and spiced by the red ginger and just a touch of date, and it's a beautiful balance of smoothness and spice. I wish I could bury my nose in the scent, but instead I'll be content to enjoy the waves of it that surround me. I'll keep my decant, but don't need a bottle.

[caitilarkin]

In the imp: Muted, smokey-spicy vanilla

 

Wet on skin: The ginger amps a little--and it's lovely--and the fruitiness of the palm date (!) appears.

 

Dry on skin: A lovely light-smokey, faintly spiced vanilla that lasts most of the work day and becomes fruitier with time.

 

This was the runaway hit of the Lupers for me.

[nekogrrl]

Wet on skin: Wow, what am I smelling? This is such an.. unexpected scent. I think it's the palm date and vanilla. If it stayed like this, I wouldn't be unhappy.

 

Dry on skin: The vanilla is still prominent, but the ginger and oakmoss are beginning to warm up the scent, and this is becoming just.. YUM.

 

Verdict: Oh hell yes I'm getting a bottle!

[RaeiNarcissus]

I have one thing to say. CHEESECAKE!! This is what I wanted Beaver Moon to be, a light cheesecake scent. It's so yummy and delicious and yummy!!! I cannot wait for this one to age, I think it's going to be spectacular.

[ami226]

In the bottle: Vanilla with something interesting??

 

On the skin: Oooops, it doesn't seem to like me. This one immediately turned to a sickly sweet plastic on me. Could be some hormones or something interfering with my skin chemistry at the moment, but ick. Why? This one is going to swaps.

 

*EDIT* Hee hee! I just received one of the decants I decanted of this scent from a long ago decant circle. Thought I would test it again to see how things had changed..... Nope. Still plastic on my skin, but this time there is something that really warms up the plastic. *sigh*

Edited February 3, 2010 by Catseyes

[diamondstars]

This reminds me of Love's Philosophy. Gorgeous.

[aquazoo]

Beautiful warm vanilla! I can't tell what else is there, exactly, but the whole combination is beautiful.

 

 

[crebbsgirl]

I agree with everyone that this was much like Love's Philosophy and Opuhi. There was a creaminess to the vanilla and the ginger provided quite a lot of spice here. There was something foody about it for me in the wet stages that didn't agree with me. I like it, but I think I'll be passing it on.

[Argentwolf]

Vanilla with sweet palm date, with the oakmoss and ginger giving it sort of a warm undercurrent. If this would have had any throw at all, it would totally have been on my MUST BUY NAO list. However, it is really, really lovely, and those who prefer to keep their perfumey pleasures all to themselves, to be sniffed discreetly from their wrist throughout the day, are really in for a treat with this one.

[Eemia]

I picked this out for myself and then saw the reviews here. Insert semi-panic attack. I really can't do foody scents (once in a very rare while). They smell so bad on me.

 

But this actually turned out to be a huge success with no foody qualities at all. It's like a sweet, earthy vanilla. Vanilla scents can turn into one notes on my skin but this has substance and dimension. When it's wet on skin it's sweet and warm without straying into sugary overkill. Then it really becomes intoxicating as it wears down. There's just that certain something in the background that keeps me grazing over my wrists all day.

 

So this is my new favorite obsession for the time being.

 

[Evilynn]

In the bottle: Very buttery, sweet vanilla (this worried me some, because Cockaigne started out all buttery on me and then went awful on dry down)

On the skin: Buttery, warm and vaguely spicy vanilla. This vanilla is all warm and golden where Voyeurs Among the Cherry Blossom's vanilla is cold. After about 30 minutes it's all earthy, ginger-spicy vanilla on me and I love it.

Verdict: If this ages well I'm probably going to hunt down extra bottles.