Lovers in a Carp Streamer

[fairnymph]

Cranberry, thyme, teakwood, mint, cedar, tobacco flower, and red currant.

Fresh! Tart red fruits and bright green herbs, with some warm exotic depths. It's absolutely unlike anything else in BPAL and I want to keep sniffing it addictively. The red currant, thyme, mint and cranberry all pop out, roughly in that order but all strongly and yet in harmony. Then comes the tobacco flower, which adds a feminine floral richness - without overpowering, and the teak and lastly and mostly faintly cedar linger warmly below. A fascinating and delicious mishmash.

This is sooooo delicious, so refreshing and bright. I'm getting some geranium here, and some sake, and the mint is most definitely spearmint. I get cranberry more strongly than I've ever gotten it in a bpal, in fact on my skin it's almost as strong as the juicy-tart red currant. The sake acts as salt does to food - it brightens and enhances these almost-sparkling notes. The tobacco flower, despite being a heady, rather intense floral in general, stays below these fresh red & green top notes, and the woods too remain distant, though they still add warmth, continuing that interesting juxtaposition of the fresh/bright and warm/dry.

Cedar and teak are notes that scare me, but they are behaving beautifully as supporting cast here. There is a very faint cologney soapiness, possibly from the mint (I'm reminded vaguely of Usher), but it's not too soapy - just clean, and another aspect of this very complex and intriguing blend. I am so amazed by how well those bright top notes are holding - they are so persistent, and so utterly addictive - I haven't glued my nose to my wrist like this in ages. Invigorating.

The woods have decided to emerge more while the tobacco flower amps a little, and the top notes are losing a bit of their dominance, though they are by no means faint. It's more that the scent is gaining depth and power; oomph. Recall again that I am not generally a fan of either teak or cedar, but they work SO well here - warm, exotic, almost spicy - they add tremendous sophistication to what would otherwise be delicious, but ephemeral and rather simplistic.The mint has faded more than the other top notes, and thyme has held on the best, while both tart red fruits have faded only slightly.

Several hours later most of the fruits wear off leaving bright green herbs and rich feminine tobacco flower over warm exotic woods. This scent just blends into itself more and more seamlessly over time; it's totally unique, sort of paradoxical, and yet so incredibly well-blended and wonderfully complex. I love that it's both 'fresh' and sophisticated - scent categories that I find rarely overlap for me. A smashing success far beyond my expectations! Also, great throw and longevity.

[hkhm]

bottle: my favorite kind of wood scent, a brisk, green wood note with fruit.

 

wet: this is extraordinary, juicy bursting fruits over leafy herbs with that vibrant wood note int he background.

 

dry: the fruit fades from my skin after a while, leaving a faint sweetness. the green herbal/wood smell remains tempered by the lingering sweetness of the fruit. so beautiful.

[angburfield]

The first reviewer did such an amazing job that I have to TOTALLY agree..ordering a backup TODAY just so unexpected LOVE LOVE LOVE the cranberry note and the wood..so fresh and green and bright...what a winner WOW

[reynardine]

In decant: sharp scent (cedar?)

 

Wet: Woodsy smell, more like an autumn or winter scent than spring. Masculine.

 

Drydown: And there’s that tobacco again, messing things up. The cedar was behaving. Getting some mint here now, too.

 

I want to like this scent, but that one death note ruins it for me. It’s one of the more interesting of this season’s line, though.

 

[kerikeri]

This is the unexpected favorite of the 2010 Lupes so far for me. It goes on very woody and cologney, but over time the cranberry and currant add a sweet overlay to the wood, with a bracing touch of mint. It's a bright, fresh, kind of energizing scent, and I really like it even though it's not much like the kinds of scents I'm usually drawn to.

[Katherynne]

Wow. This is just GORGEOUS, but I had expected it to be. From the notes given, I expected this to smell somewhat like Cheshire Cat on my skin, and I am not disappointed. Wet, it goes on almost like a dupe of Cheshire Cat, in fact.

 

As it dries down the cedar is really coming out, changing this blend entirely. What a morpher! The mint is leaving this with a faint impression of coolness, but nothing overly minty -- which is good, because I don't like smelling of mint.

 

Once the mint and fruit burns off, this turns into a warm woods and tobacco flower scent. In my search for the elusive tobacco flower, I gotta say: YAY~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I'll give this a few more wears but it's like a bottle purchase.

Edited February 23, 2010 by Katherynne

[fiddledragon]

This was my wild impulse buy of the Lupercalias. Cedar often goes hamster-cage on me, and mint does unspeakable things most of the time. But cranberry! And thyme! And Lovers in a Carp Streamer!

 

In the imp: vague tart floral; I can't really pick out any notes yet.

 

On me: This is very faint...there's a whiff of mint (actual mint! not unspeakable horror!), backed up by cranberry and cedar. It's very much a "clean fresh" scent. I get a whiff of thyme and tobacco flower as it dries. It settles down into a very nice fresh herbal scent...not bitter or medicinal, almost aquatic. The woods don't go all overpowering on me, and the mint is actually quite lovely. It's a real green mint leaf scent, not candyish at all. The fruits stay tart and understated. The tobacco flower goes slightly soapy.

 

This is a very "adult" perfume, and not in the nudge-nudge-wink-wink kind of way. It's very businesslike and wants an expensive tailored suit. This is one of the few BPALs I've come across that makes me think "normal perfume" and yet is appealing. This would be a perfect way to introduce someone to BPAL who is scared off by "weird" notes and descriptions. Weird name, weird painting, weird notes...beautifully classic perfume that nobody would think was odd if introduced to without the description.

[MamaMoth]

Fresh smelling, a little herbal and a little tart. But above all: soap. Probably the soapiest-smelling BPAL I've ever put my nose to.

[musichappens]

Upon initial application, I was hit with the smell of yummy minted, but tart red fruits. As it began to dry on my skin, the cedar decided to jump out and give it a bit more depth. After a few hours, the fruitiness seems to have disappeared and been replaced with a more fresh & herbal scent. Normally, I'm not one for the more herbal type of blends, but I actually find this particular one to be absolutely beautiful. Additionally, the longevity of this on my skin was amazing. I will definitely be picking up a bottle.

Edited February 25, 2010 by musichappens

[boxinghelena]

My nose is very wonky. It usually only picks up one or two notes. There is something in this blend that is amazing! I think it's the cranberry with just a touch of mint. It smells so freaking good.

[edenssixthday]

Lovers in a Carp Streamer - Okay, I was so excited about this because cranberry scents are so rare, and the notes seemed like they'd work together really well. In fact, they do! When I first apply this, the top notes are the cranberry, tobacco flower, and thyme, over the woods. There's the slightest trace of mint, but I wouldn't notice it if I didn't already know it was there. There's also a weird hint of soapiness when I sniff this up close on my skin, which is undoubtedly the tobacco flower. As the scent starts to dry down, the thyme and the soapiness fade and the red currant bursts forth and becomes the dominant note so that it smells like a red currant, thyme, and woods blend. It's so pretty and just can't put into words how much I love the juicy red fruits! Also, something about it reminds me of a LUSH product...but I can't place which one. Maybe a bubble bar or bath bomb? Or maybe it just smells like what you smell when you first walk into a LUSH store. No matter what, I love this scent... but it has zero staying power on me and no throw. 20 minutes after I apply it, I can barely find a trace of it on my skin! Wah! In the bottle, it smells absolutely nothing like it smells once it touches my skin, otherwise I'd keep it and use it as a room scent. I can't tell you how sad I am that this fades so fast on me. HUGE bummer.

[thekittenkat]

I love this. I had great hopes for this, and I am not disappointed! The cranberry and currant combine into this yummy red fruit scent that's not too sweet, yet not too tart. The woods are the base, and are just beautiful. The mint and thyme join together to give the scent a good but gentle spiciness, but it is a mild spice. The tobacco flower serves to round all the other notes out and keeps them in check. That all the notes are faves is just wonderful.

 

Sweet sex in a wooden kite thingy--yeah, pretty much. Going to need a back-up. Or two.

[greenranger]

A strong start with cranberries and thyme and something else. It softens pretty quickly quickly into a tart red fruit scent with enough wood and herbs to keep it from being foody.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: This is very tart and herbal with a light breath of mint.

 

Immediately on skin: This is very much an herb scent, with a large amount of thyme and a little bit of mint, with the currant and cranberry kind of smoothing the scent from the background. It’s quite sharp and “high” smelling to me.

 

After a little while: Berry! Refreshing, tart, slightly minty berry. This reminds me a lot of Baneberry, only with a touch of mint and some dry woods kind of dancing above.

 

Overall Impressions: This scent starts out all herbs and a little mint with a hint of berry, but ends up with a lot of berry and a hint of mint and thyme with dry woods finishing it. It’s quite pretty and upbeat, but light. It has a nice mixture of notes that breaks up the tart, sweet berry.

 

[Little Bird]

In the bottle, this is intensely tart, fruity, and refreshing. It smells cool and clean, perhaps from the mint.

 

On my skin, this smells clean without being soapy and cool without being minty. It's like a blast of tart, frozen cranberry and a background of clean laundry hung up to dry. It reminds me of The Hamptons a bit. It's a clean, pleasant cranberry smell. It's strong for about a half hour on me and then fades pretty quickly after that. I think that I'll keep my decant, but I still prefer The Hamptons for a tart cranberry scent.

[Ilex]

I love wood notes. Wood does not seem to love me, however, and often fails to show up. This is no exception. Generic sweet berries with a soapy shampoo over them. It evokes those Strawberry Shortcake dolls of my youth. The teak/ceder eventually poke their heads up a bit to lend a dab of spicy something to the mix, but its very faint. I get no mint or thyme what so ever, though perhaps that's the shampoo smell.

 

All the notes I was looking forward to were completely dominated by sugary plastic-y berries and/or eaten by my skin. Bummer. I like the picture for this one and love mint/thyme so I was really hoping it'd work.

[childoftime]

I was a bit wary, as the scent in the freshly-removed-from-bubble-wrap bottle was sharp, sharp, sharp, and too well-blended for me to really pick anything out. I suspected that the sharpness was coming from the thyme, juniper, and mint, and I was really worried about it being soapy (especially after MamaMoth's review), and decided to let it settle.

 

Well, five minutes later, I decided that to hell with settling, I was trying it. Before I could talk myself out of it (again) I was putting it on. And no conservative, wrists-only testing (which I usually do with scents I'm unsure of, as washing something you hate off of your neck is a huge hassle)--I put it on my neck and everything!

 

Right away, I got thyme, cranberry, and dry woods, with just a hint of fuzzy mint around the edges. The cranberry seemed frozen, with just a hint of ice about it, and as this blend starts to dry it turns to a beautiful cool red, cranberry-and-currant note over dry woods. I think that the coolness is probably the mint, but I can't specifically pick it out now that it's dry. This scent stays fresh and herbal the whole way through, and I don't get any plasticky or artificial smell from it at all. This is hauntingly beautiful, and I'm SO glad I have a whole bottle! I have a feeling this one is going to be very, very popular, especially as it ages.

[megank4]

This smells really nice.

Bright cranberries with something "sparkling" that makes me think of a fizzy alcoholic drink

Thankfully no mint.

A definite keeper.

[IridiumFlash]

This one started off Helllllooooooo, Ocean Spray! The cranberry made it very fruity without any sweetness, just tart cranberry (perhaps with red currant in a supporting role). It smelled very nice, but had no staying power on my skin. Within a couple hours I could pick up only the faintest hint, and then only by burying my nose on my arm.

 

Somewhat disappointing because of the quick fade.

 

 

 

[ellebelle]

Bright, fizzy cranberry with mint. There is a touch of herbalness to this, which is likely the thyme. As it dries down, there is a bit of the creaminess of the tobacco flower. I never get a very woody scent on this, which is good for me because I normally amp it. Very nice!

[Iceblink]

I love cranberry and there aren't many blends with it, so...and this one is lovely! The cranberry and currant are strong and tart, with thyme and mint providing a nice balance to keep this from being overly fruity. There's a nice base of woods too. I don't think the staying power is going to be stellar here but oh, this is wonderfully refreshing and perky while it lasts.

[milo]

I was really looking forward to trying this, as it smells sooo good in the imp. Mmm, wonderful tart effervescent cranberry with a touch of currant and mint. It really doesn't change much for me from wet to dry. This is so very fresh, and will be perfect for summer. I really don't have anything else quite like this, but it has the same 'feel' as Embalming Fluid. Very cooling. There maaay be a touch of teak here. Very well blended, and I'm definitely contemplating a bottle.

[mjules]

This one looked so lovely I couldn't resist. Sadly, I probably should have.

 

On wet: Interesting. Teakwood, like an old boat, and a hint of herbs.

Drydown: Kind of smells watery. I didn't think there were aquatics in this... Damp, and sort of musty and... is that a... laundry room I smell?

Dry: Oh god laundry soap. Tide Classic. I can see the box in my head.

 

Sigh. This is going in the sell-or-swap pile.

[zankoku_zen]

Bright, juicy tart cranberries and red currant. Slight green herbs, bright, citrusy. On wet, I would get occasional stabs of the cedar, which smelled like pencils, but it smooths out to a woody base underneath the citrus. I find this very well blended - fresh, yet sophisticated.

 

The woods are a little too much for me on the drydown, but pretty nonetheless.

[angelicruin]

Oh wow. Blast of cranberry and red current right after application. The cedar note is very faint on my skin, as is the floral note. I'm not getting any mint. This is really nice on my skin and I need to decide if a decant is enough.