Sylvia

[ladymeag]

Snuggly brown musk, spicy carnation, leather balsam, bourbon vanilla, terebinth pine, yew berry, and a touch of clove.

I wasn't even planning on trying this one - carnation and pine usually don't play nicely with my skin. When I opened the bottle, though, I could resist trying it. This really does feel like snuggling into warm fur.

In the bottle: pine and leather and musk, and maybe a little clove

On the skin: I can definitely smell the brown musk and leather first thing. The balsam-y part of "leather balsam" warms up and gets a little woodsy as it dries down. The pine doesn't take over but adds an almost minty freshness that was unexpected. The spicy carnation and clove seem to be playing each other down to a kind of warm, brown spiciness without any sharpness or overtly floral feel. The yew berry and bourbon vanilla bring just a hint of sweetness to keep this scent from being too dry or woodsy, which really gives it that snuggly feeling.

I wasn't expecting to like this one and now I'm not sure one bottle will be enough. This smells like the best kind of snuggly warmth for chilly autumn days.

[allinmyhead]

I really shouldn't have tried this fresh out of the box. I'm so unsure about it now.

 

In the bottle: Hellloooo PINE! Clove? This is SHARP.

 

Wet: Painfully sharp. Pine-sol and clove. Vanilla? Where are you? Carnation? Hell, I'd even take leather at this point! Ew.

 

Drydown: Pine-Sol. Even the hubs asked what I'd been cleaning. Meh.

 

Dry: I think I'm out of the forest now. I smell that clove and the carnation has finally blossomed out of the needles on the ground. This one may be a keeper after some age, but I don't know. That pine is going to have to behave exceptionally well or Sylvia is going off to the pound

[SadariEvenstar]

I'm in love. LOVE.

 

This starts out with a blast of pine, very spicy carnation, and clove. As it's drying it went through a short phase where the leather/pine went weird and it smelled like cleaner. It burned off quickly though and as it dried it turned into the most snuggly leather I have ever smelled. This is sweet and spicy and the leather is so soft. The pine blends in smelling like forest air clinging to fur.

 

The Shiny Furball hairgloss compliments this perfectly.

[ReallyZeb]

When wet mine reminded me strongly of spice cookies and I would have loved it to stay that way, but once it dried I get a metallic edge that has me thinking of blood, so I suspect Sylvia nipped out for a quick snack. There is carnation spice and a walking through a pine forest in winter sort of vibe which is rather lovely. I'm betting this will age really well.

[sharkdiver]

This is stunning - I get the pine wet. And in the bottle, but on my skin, I mostly get brown musk, carnation, and Clove! I have nothing like this in my collection, and I love it! I didn't slather which could be why I am not picking up much leather or vanilla (the the vanilla could be what's adding that "snuggle" factor. I love this, and I think it will only get better with age!

[stellamaris]

This is warm and brown and filled with win.

[Quillifer]

This is fascinating.

 

In the vile I find it really off-putting - smells like cheap shampoo to me.

 

On the skin it transforms immediately into - well. It's a warm, fuzzy cloud around my wrist. It has that odd property of seeming to really be in the air around rather than on the skin - ie originate there. Different bits of the air smell different.

 

At first it smelled just like a wild, dangerous animal's fur. Very odd indeed - and very nice - to smell that on myself! Then it morphed into something much gentler, including brown musk, and a sort of balsam. I don't really spot individual notes well in this though.

 

It's so different that I'll take a little while to get used to it, but I do like it a lot and suspect I will love it

 

PS I'm not sure about it. Hmmm. I do like it, will have to try it a bit more. It is interesting but there are so many BPALs that I love, I wonder whether I perhaps ought to part with the ones I'm not totally in love with just so that I can enjoy my favourites better...

Edited October 21, 2013 by Quillifer

[HerbGirl]

Brown musk, carnation, clove (THAT DOESN'T GO RANCID ON ME!!!!! YAY FINALLY!!!) and Pine...this is fabulous and I cannot wait to give this Furball a proper wear!!!

[MiasmaResonance]

I am currently wearing this with Shiny Furball and, I must say, I really wished I lived somewhere in the mountains right now because it would be absolutely perfect.

 

Normally I'm a total foodie, but I have a love for these sorts of scents as well. It's deep, dark, sexy-winter, and I truly do feel as if I have just run through a pine forest late at night, snow whipping around me after a hunt.

 

It's dark and has depth, but the vanilla gives it a sweetness that makes it perfect to me.

 

Overall, a sweet, snuggly, sexy scent, worthy of a she-wolf for sure.

[yakiguri]

Sylvia starts off on my skin as a strongly resinous pine + leather combo, but gradually the balsam takes more of a back seat and lets the carnation and clove come to the fore. The leather + resins combo reminds me strongly of Rogue, which is LOVE as Rogue is of my top faves. Unfortunately Sylvia is prone to wanderlust--unless I slather myself I can barely detect her, and my skin eats the blend entirely within a 2-3 hours if not sooner.

 

I'll revisit Sylvia just before the Weenies come down to see if she becomes more tenacious on my skin. I'd love to have something else in the Rogue family in my stash, but not if she's as undetectable as one. Otherwise I'll stick with my one bottle.

[JasminDreams2010]

Sylvia is in the process of breaking my heart.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this one, but I love Voodoo and guessed it might be along the same lines. It's actually similar, but a little bit softer, more feminine than Voodoo. As the other reviewers have said, this is woods in winter, snuggly fur, a perfect holiday scent. Daresay it might even be one of the top 5 in just prettiness of perfumes I have smelled. I do live in the mountains and looked forward to taking this with me on hiking trips.

 

Then, she did what any massive canine might try, and curled up on my chest in the middle of the night. Stupid asthma, preventing me from being able to wear certain musks! argh.

 

I will wait and see if I can teach her that I am alpha. If she can't learn to play nice, off to swap.

Edited November 7, 2013 by JasminDreams2010

[Poenari]

I was so heartbroken that Shiny Furball didn't work for me, but thankfully Sylvia does. She is a warm, brown, spicy musk, and is a very comforting scent. I once had an amazing dog that was a husky-wolf cross, and Sylvia actually reminds me of her. Multiple bottles for sure.

[doomsday_disco]

I wasn't originally intending to get a decant of this, but since I decided to get decants of Shiny Furball and Sudsy She Wolf, I thought that I might as well try Sylvia, too!

 

In the decant: The spicy carnation and pine seem to be the dominant notes. I think I may be detecting a little of the leather balsam, musk, and clove as well.

 

Wet: I am only getting the spicy carnation note from this. I am not surprised, as I seem to amp carnation. I wouldn't normally consider this a good thing, but I am liking this carnation note more than some of the others I've encountered.

 

Wait a minute, I am pretty sure it isn't a pure carnation note. Is there cinnamon in this? I must have pressed my nose a little too close to my wrist, because the tip of my nose is burning now, and this usually happens with cinnamon or ginger notes.

 

Dry: Spicy carnation and perhaps a hint of clove.

 

Verdict: Well, this definitely proves that I amp carnation. I don't dislike this, but I don't really see myself reaching for it very often, so I won't be purchasing a bottle. I will have to ponder whether or not I want to keep the decant as this is really just a spicy carnation on me.

Edited November 15, 2013 by dementia_divine

[asciident]

Wet: Spicy, vanilla, and something green in the background.

 

First on: Very spicy and a little musky. Vanilla moves to the background and blows out all the greenness.

 

Dry: In the bottle, I wasn’t sure I’d like this since it was so green; dry on my skin, it’s warm, spicy, and woodsy. Great scent.

 

 

[liquidtrance]

Snuggly brown musk, spicy carnation, leather balsam, bourbon vanilla, terebinth pine, yew berry, and a touch of clove.

 

In the imp: Spicy carnation, whoooooa. A touch of either the balsam or pine-- something a little bit green.

 

On skin: Carnation single note, ahoy! Clove jumps in for the party, adding to the spice-factor.

 

Dry: This morphs like crazy and eveeeentually, the carnation calms down and tempers with the musk and vanilla. There are dreamy wafts of lovely scent around, but I couldn't quite name the combination for you.

 

Verdict: I was really hoping for a surprising pine/leather balsam/musk scent, with a hint of spice and floral, but carnation steels the show. Pine never even waves hello from a distance. The dry down is really great, but I just don't like carnation enough to wade through the initial phases.

Edited November 16, 2013 by liquidtrance

[astarinel]

The carnation is definitely strong wet, along with the leather balsam and evergreens.

 

I was all set to be disappointed, but as it dries the notes meld together really well into a soft, spicy, musky scent. Very well-balanced and snuggly, I like this much more than I thought I would.

[Alainn]

I nearly blind-ordered a bottle of this because it sounded wonderful, but I didn't because I was afraid of the leather. I needn't have worried, because this is delicious, and I don't think one bottle will be enough.

 

This starts out WHOAPINE and clove, with a spicy carnation and sweet vanilla background. As time goes on, the pine calms down and lets the carnation/clove combo to come forward and balance everything out, and even later, the musk warms up and turns this into a warm cloud around me, like I'm wearing the world's most snuggly sweater while walking through a snowy pine forest. In case you couldn't tell, I love it

 

It's been bugging me since I first sniffed it in the vial, and I've finally figured out what this reminds me of--it's the sweeter, lighter cousin of Raven Moon, a blend I hoarded a bottle of in order to huff it periodically, until I swapped it away to someone who could actually wear it because it was a tad dry on my skin for me to pull off. It also reminds me to a lesser degree of Inez, with its slightly powdery vanilla/carnation/wood combo. If any of these are among your likes, you would probably enjoy Sylvia a great deal. She's one special vamp

[surlygurl]

I took a chance of getting a 1/2 bottle from my decant mistress, and I was right! All the notes are fabulous on me, and together that are amazing!

 

First off, I get PINE and something spicy. The pine recedes and the super sexy cola note from Voodoo (favorite GC ever!) and Schwartzer Mond comes out. Then..... CARNATIONS! All spicy and pink - the same carnation that's in Velvet Bandito. So good! As it dries, I *think* there's leather in there, but leather doesn't show up on my skin unless it's a major player. I don't understand all this "walk in the woods" talk, since the pine has long since gone.

 

I may update this after a couple more wears (when I don't have the rest of the weenies on other nearby body parts). But, so far, this is awesome. If you like any of the above scents - get this. You owe it to yourself.

[Rshields]

Spicy carnations indeed! Reminds me of those chewy gummy like,cinnamon candies and a whole lotta carnation! I guess I amp carnations to high heaven and should avoid them

from here on out.They just don't do it for me. I'll re test again later. For now the decant is fine and I don't need a bottle.

[brilliantcat]

Mostly pine in the decant, though I can barely smell the clove and vanilla. On me, it's sooo very different: clove foremost followed by musk, vanilla, and faintly pine. Wow! It smells like snuggly fur and love. It warms to clove, carnation, musk, and a smidge of leathery vanilla. I definitely need a bottle, as this perfectly evokes its inspiration. I love the hair gloss and I bet this will go perfectly with it. I need to go run after prey in a dark, mist-wreathed forest now.

[zankoku_zen]

Furry clovey brown musk. It's the same furry brown musk that you would get in Wulric the Wolfman, but instead of deep cacao, you get clove instead. To me, this is like cuddling a clove cigarette.

 

It smells like a clove cigarette, but one you cuddle instead of smoking it.

[Shirel]

This wolfy lady is so much nicer then I thought! It starts of a very very sharp pine on me, so for a second there I thought "Phew! I'm so glad I only went for a decant- wait, what smells amazing?"

 

The pine and sharpness disappear in a few seconds, and a lovely lovely spice-warm scent starts wafting around me... I used to think that carnations are a death note but Sylvia is the scent that fully convinced me on how wrong I was about that this scent has the spice of the carnation and clove (which work beautifully together) along with some sweetness from the vanilla and musk, it just smells warm and snuggly in the best ways possible.

 

The image I get from this is of a furry creature sleeping by the fire after raiding the cookie jar I really hope I'll be able to snag myself a bottle before it runs off into the winter night.

[Zii]

This is just amazing. The spicy carnation is coming across a lot like cinnamon on my skin, but it's the rich non-foody type I love from Hatta. in fact, this is a lot like a woody version of Hatta to my nose.

 

I am very much getting the musk and the woods, and there is something playing with the musk that has to be the leather balsam because it has a hint of the leather from Black Rider, rich and spicy, though not a main player. It is an incredibly snuggly and warm scent despite the richness of the woods, which is what is so wonderful about this.

 

I am very excited to whip out the Sylvia trio for my evening out tomorrow!

[mymymai]

ITB: It's spicy, warm, and very brown. Carnation and clove pair beautifully with the brown musk and bourbon vanilla underneath. I'm not picking up on any other notes aside from those at the moment.

 

Wet: The warm musk surrounds and lends a delicious softness to the clove and carnation. The pine has now emerged just underneath the top-notes, followed softly by the bourbon vanilla and yew berry. I get a very subtle impression of leather, but nothing more. Gorgeous!

 

Dry: I love this one so much - clove, musk, vanilla, and a hint of pine lend itself to a warm scent that's also rather alluring.

[milo]

Lots of evergreen at first, kind of musky too. After a bit, the clove comes out, and it kind of smells like Clemence, from the CD, but with a touch of evergreen rather than patchouli. (why did I ever swap that wench??!!) So it ends up being mostly clove to me, it smells rather outdoorsy. It did make me want to get Clemence when she's back though, I wasn't into patchouli back in the day.