We Need Your Lupercalia 2012 Recs! BPAL and BPTP

[ivyandpeony]

Since today is Valentine's Day I thought it would be a good time for us to start chatting about this. What Lupercalia scents are this year's must-haves? Did any disappoint you? Did you discover an incredible sleeper hit that no one will know about unless you recommend it here?

 

I have to confess - I haven't tried any yet! But I have quite a wishlist and hope to be placing my order ASAP.

[Alethia]

For me, the must-haves are

 

Blossoms in Springtime: I get a very Glowing Vulva-esque vibe from it without the teak that wrecked GV for me. I'm seriously considering hoarding this one.

 

Playful Wooden Mallets: the black musk is quite lemony at this point, but I'm thinking that this one will age beautifully.

 

Lady in Speckled Pink Kimono: this is a really simple blend (peony and vanilla orchid) but it's absolutely divine.

 

The Vine: I'm not a foody lover, but this is just so pretty! The pear is warm and sweet and it totally makes up for the fact that I missed out on The Perilous Parlor.

 

Disclaimer: I've yet to meet a floral perfume I didn't like, so that definitely colors my recommendations!

[ivyandpeony]

thanks for your input, Alethia! I am a big, BIG floral fan too. The only ones that haven't worked for me have been scents with two extremely assertive floral notes, like lilac and wisteria together or jasmine with another sassy, assertive floral. I am always drawn to the florals with every update and this time around Lady in Speckled Pink Kimono really caught my eye.

[sharkdiver]

from the post, The Bittersweet chocolate bath oil. It smells exactly like brownie batter. it's amazing! The Bourbon vanilla Bath oil is also awesome, though there is a bit of a sassafrass note in there, which reminds me so much of a VERY vanillary blend of sarsparilla root beer. It does die down a bit, and stay in the background, so it's not "intrusive", but if you like that combo, definitely go for it. I also personally ADORED L'Eau De L'Ardeur bath oil, which is white chocolate, roses, vanilla, and soft resins. It's gorgeous. I bought backups of that one and the bittersweet chocolate, because they are THAT good!

 

also, if you are a big floral fan, I would say give the Passion set (bath oil & perfume) a try - I was a bit unsure about it after reading reviews, especially since I am really selective when it comes to florals. The bath oil was REALLY strong floral, carnations and to me, lillies (though there are no lillies) but it doesn't stay nearly that strong on the skin, in fact, the scent that lingers on the skin is beautiful! also, my bath towel smelled FANTASTIC after I used it! (that night, I went back to wash my face before bed, and dried my face on the same towel, and fell in love with the scent all over again!) It layers beautifully with the perfume, which also adds a red musk element to it. Lovely!

 

from the lab, I would say:

 

Smut (red musk, amaretto/cherries...TDF!!)

Womb Furie - Snake Oil meets honey

 

The vine is also a really popular choice, but I thought it was a little on the sweet side. It's pretty, I don't dislike it, but I think it's not something *I* would usually gravitate towards.

Edited February 15, 2012 by sharkdiver

[absalem]

I haven't tried a whole lot yet, as I've decided to cut down on decants and just go for whole bottles, but the two I've liked best so far are: The First Encounter, and Snowy Mountains and Kingfisher. Both seem really unique to me. The first being a really sassy/sexy fruity blend, and the second an almost-spicy/sweet/exotic/snow scent with a lot of class.

Edited February 16, 2012 by absalem

[Dark Alice]

Street Festival. Gorgeous fruity loveliness.

[Gold Dust Kitten]

Blossoms in Springtime - Glowing Vulva-esque upon first application (cream note), but then turns into something more like Giant Vulva (creamy skin musk). It's gorgeous.

Body, Remember - Incensy, tropical-floral coconut. I hate florals but I'm down with champaca.

Smut - Cherry Smut. I love teh Smut, and I love cherries. This is playful and bright with your typical Smut drydown.

L'Essence de L'Engouement (bptp) - Both the perfume and bath oil are delish. Sweet, candyfloss strawberry sugary stuff.

Bourbon Vanilla Bath Oil (bptp) - This isn't as vanilla-y as I thought it would be, but it has a nice sassafras note that I love. It's like Tombstone without the cedar, and it's lovely for layering.

Aphrodite Kypria Atmo Spray (bptp) - Buy this. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. It's intoxicating - sugary cinnamon musk sherry vanilla. Nothing like baked goods surprisingly, which is a huge win for me.

 

 

I haven't tried any other Lupers yet, waiting for decants from the BPTP stuff I didn't buy yet. I need to order the Chocolate whatever bath oil for sure

[Alethia]

I'm going to have to add in a vote for Variety of Pleasing Amusements. That leather note slays me!

[Balame]

I was pretty surprised this update. I thought I'd like Blossoms in Springtime, but I wanted it to be a Glowing Vulva clone and the lotus went INSANE on me, so it just ended up an astringent mess despite being gorgeous cream in the bottle. I also thought I'd be into Body, Remember, but it was too cloyingly sweet.

 

My unexpected hits were Variety of Pleasing Amusements and Following Instructions. Variety is a non-plastic honey (despite loving real honey sometimes BPAL's goes funky on me) that is absolutely lickable, rich, and real on top of a backdrop of sexy leather. Makes you feel like doing naughty BDSM lite things in the bedroom with food. Following is just... wow. It seems overly sweet in the bottle but once on it calms down and is a sensual melding of incense, sweet grains, and amber. I suppose it's a bit foody but it's done so in a way that doesn't make it feel foody, and instead just makes you want to devour your arm (or wherever else you dab it). The blend of ritualistic elements with delicious sides makes for an adult, lingering trail of yum.

 

I also really enjoyed Smut and Womb Furie, both of which I knew were popular but hadn't tried. Had a pleasant change of opinion. Smut evokes its namesake for sure - my husband ended up putting some on and at first I didn't know what nice new scent he was wearing. I'm not normally a big musk person (except for Egyptian) but I guess the sugar and booze both sweeten and make it more mature. It smelled horribly candy-ish in the bottle, but was a sexy, almost "sweaty" smelling blend on hubby, but in a wonderful way. Womb Furie was another amazing honey (or I suppose, honeys). Again, one element didn't make sense as I'm not a Snake Oil fan, but luckily the honey overpowers it and I'm left with a fantastic, lanquid scent reminiscent of lying in the sun with your lover on a lazy day.

 

Sweetest Lesbia was another I wanted to like, but it was too "cutesy" sweet and girlish rather than the delicately "sensual yet natural" scent I wanted it to be (probably because of the osmanthus).

[yuniper]

I think I love all the scents I ordered decants of

 

- The Vine: juicy pear with a strong honey note

- Lady in Pink Speckled Kimono: subtle pink floral with a musky dry-down

- An Omen of Good Fortune: very special interesting blend, a strong fresh juicy note and a smoky undertone

- Water Dragon: very well blendend, aquatic, soft floral, hint of musk

 

[stellamaris]

Elizabeth of Bohemia, for all you rosey fans. This is the most amazing deep scent, that stays for so long.

I also love the Bittersweet Chocolate bath Oil. And the two Aphrodite room sprays. Gorgeous.

Waiting for my second Lupercalia order...

[sunshinedaisybliss]

I didn't go for many of the Lupercalia/Shunga blends this time around - I never have much success with them, because there's often a lot of white florals and/or otherwise 'white' notes like skin musk that hate me. This year's batch featured a lot of honey, which is a very problematic note for my skin and usually ends up smelling either like sweaty feet, or vomit. Nice

 

The Vine could have been a winner, but the honey ruined it and the vanilla cream smelled kinda weird on me. Lady in Speckled Pink Kimono is really pretty, but not any more impressive than other similar 'pink and sweet' BPALs I've tried before.

 

So my stand-out hit for this year is... *drum roll* Body, Remember. I wrote a rather embarrassingly love-fuelled review of it here, but anyone who loves black coconut (think Goblin, Death Adder, Snake Charmer, Red Lantern) must try it! Gorgeous gorgeous gooooorgeoussssss

 

ETA - I predict Body, Remember and Variety of Pleasing Amusements will be this year's sleepers - maybe also Snowy Mountains and Kingfisher

Edited March 9, 2012 by sunshinedaisybliss

[OctoberGwen]

The Doom of Beauty is my surprise Lupercalia hit. It smells exactly like an herb garden in high summer. Gorgeous.

[stellamaris]

Playful Wooden Mallets. O. M. Gosh. So darn good. So cinnamon, but strangely not sweet.

The Balcony. Rich, and very complex, long lasting.

On The Death of His Mistress, so involved and good.

[Monday]

Body, Remember- is my favorite of the lupers I have one bottle and I'm trying to convince myself that I do not need two (triljon) more.

Playful Wooden Mallets- is very nice too, like Haunted it does need some aging though. Need to snag a bottle of it too.

Blossoms in Springtime- is all creamy loveliness. It's one of the few honeys that I like and enjoy. Definitely need another bottle of it.

[Helas]

Body, Remember was the major hit of the update for me. It makes me think of strolling on some tropical beach under the moonlight. Cold and glittering, but with a musky, sweaty sensuality due to the ambergris.

 

None of the other Lupercalias that I tried spoke to me, but I'm still glad I gave them a try.

[orata]

Blossoms in Springtime snagged me a compliment at work and was the only bottle I went for (and kept). Warm, floaty, resinous, rich vanilla goodness.

 

(Playful Wooden Mallets and Body, Remember seem to be the other runaway hits, but I thought they were both just OK--not amazing.) I had a lot of "like but not love"s this time--Speckled Pink Kimono, Before the Snowy Window, My Sweetest Lesbia, Entangled, The First Encounter.

 

From the Post, the Bittersweet Chocolate Massage Oil is as fantastic as everyone has been saying, and Aphrodite Kypria atmo spray does smell like spicy cinnamon wonderfulness. I ordered both of them unsniffed and wasn't sorry!

[lookingglass]

I'm going to have to add in a vote for Variety of Pleasing Amusements. That leather note slays me!

and Womb Furie!!

[stellamaris]

Well, I just made my last Luper order, and I did get a back up of Elizabeth of Bohemia, although I do love many of my Lupers, it's hard to say how they will age, so one bottle is enough for what I have, but Elizabeth of Bohemia is so specific and potent, I had to have another.

And although the Shungas are up for another month, I got my four back ups of Playful Wooden Mallets. After The Heartbreak of No More Wiley Grasser, I wanted to be safe rather than sorry.

[Circaea]

Playful Wooden Mallets is wonderful. And Blossoms in Springtime. Also Calligraphy Practise.