The Elephant’s Leash

[GoldenRubee]

Peach blossoms and cherry blossoms with red musk, Oaxacan amber, copal, lilac, and white sandalwood.

In the bottle: lovely soft peach and amber, yum.

On my skin: soft peach mixed with soft cherry with my favorite red musk. The red musk is not screaming here but rather playing nicely with the peach and cherry blossoms. So far everything is going very well. The amber is also light and so is the copal (resin) and the sandalwood. Only at the very end do I smell lilac at all and that swirls in and out. This reminds me of walking through the tea gardens in San Francisco, a very calming and peaceful blend. Not only would I wear this during the day, I would wear this to bed to help me sleep. It it soft and comforting.

[Franny]

Ok. So. First things first, this scent is absolutely stunning.

 

In the bottle: I think I am mainly getting a lovely soft peach.

 

On the skin: This blooms into a beautiful soft floral, Peach recedes into peach blossom and cherry blossoms. After a few minutes I start to smell amber and some sandalwood grounding the scent and every now and then a very soft hint of lilac. It is soft, beautiful, gentle. No loud overwhelming florals for me here.

 

I am obsessed with this. Seriously. If I was the type of person to buy back up bottles I would get backups of this. It smells like a magical fairy garden of flowers that never come out of bloom.

[Atrous]

In the Bottle: Light floral and peach

 

Wet: A lovely, soft peach takes center stage with cherry in the background.

 

Dry: This is a beautifully layered scent. Resins create a strong base with a predominant but soft peach on top. Cherry and Lilac swirl in and out of the peach. Red Musk just barely teases at the edges.

 

Thoughts: I normally amp Red Musk so I was expecting a much heavier scent. The musk just stays in the background. For anyone who amps Red Musk (and doesn't like it) this might be a scent to try.

 

I've been looking for a nice peach scent and this one fits the bill. Peach goes wonky on my skin. I now know Peach bad, Peach Blossom good. This is a soft, girly scent but with a bit of sophistication. I love it!

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

Interesting! I was expecting a more floral Titania, but Elephant's Leash is nothing like that other than a shared hint of peach. My skin amps the amber and sandalwood, and the peach and cherry blossoms are just a gentle frame for them, although peach comes out more on the drydown. Very pretty and sophisticated for spring; Oriental with a hint of fruity-floral.

[LiberAmoris]

The Elephant's Leash is really pretty—resiny spring florals! Those peach and cherry blossoms are so light and sweet, and they're well balanced by the red musk, amber, copal, and sandalwood. The lilac isn't strong on me, but it's one of my favorite notes and I can smell it around the edges of this blend, adding an almost creamy texture to it all. I wish the peach blossoms lasted a little longer on me, but I won't complain because what's left on my skin after about a half hour is an incensy, 'red musk muddle' of nearly drowned florals that is somehow oddly sexy and complex. Definitely in the tradition of classic Oriental perfumes, crossed with the breath of spring—which, frankly, is very appealing after the winter we've been through this year!

[ReallyZeb]

On me it stays the same all the way through - soft peach, slightly powdery, with a hint of cherry in the background and a faint incense waft at the end. Light throw but still definately lingers.

 

This is a really beautiful, grown-up and sophisticated scent, which is completely unlike me, and yet I'm tempted to get a bottle anyway.

[Magycmyste]

In the imp: Mostly juicy peach, with something else. I'm thinking it's the sandalwood peeking out, but I can't quite tell.

 

Wet on skin: Peach and.... musk? Amber? It could be a floral - the lilac or cherry blossom. There is a sweetness to it that might be coming from the peach, but I'm not exactly sure.

 

Dried down: Interesting. Peach and floral is mostly what I'm getting. I like the fact that it's not going kid's vitamin on me.

 

Throw: This is wearing pretty close to my skin as well, but sometimes it takes a little while for throw to show up on me. As I wait, the peach wafts to me.

 

Verdict: **** 1/* I think I do want a bottle of this. The question is, am I willing to wait to get it secondhand?

[Floria]

I get mostly candy-sweet fruity floral out of this - presumably, the fruit blossoms. It's pleasant enough, and it lasts, but with that whole list of lovely notes, I'd been hoping for more complexity. I just hope that with a bit of aging or a slightly different hormonal state I'll get more of this scent's potential.

[zankoku_zen]

Peach, lilac and red musk.

 

I am actually surprised how much I enjoyed this. It was a peachy blend, with brushes of lilac, red musk and on the drydown a bit of sandalwood.

 

It's sexy, red, and very wearable.

 

Hmmm, may have to consider more of this one.

[LizMarivi]

This actually reminded me a lot of the White Peach and Incense hair gloss (which I lurve) but with a hint of cherry. I think out of all my Luper decants this will be the only one that I'll get a bottle of. Yay!

[Teaker]

This is a very fresh, pretty floral. It has an almost green feeling to it, like a branch that was just snapped. I think it might be from the lilac, the first thing I thought of when I sniffed it was branches freshly snipped from a lilac bush. It's not as sweet as I was expecting, and I get a touch more peach blossom than cherry.

 

I like it, but it's not very exciting. I'm hoping aging will bring out the red musk and maybe some more sweetness.

 

Edit: After a week to settle down, I'm liking this better. The amber does become prominent as it dries, but there is still that touch of very fresh floral to keep it from going to straight amber on my skin. I'd say this is a lilac-heavy amber/floral, sophisticated and refined.

Edited April 5, 2014 by Teaker

[JasminDreams2010]

Sadly the 2014 lupers seem to be striking out on me- though I did enjoy lovers in the tea house from the shungas.

Which is fine I suppose because the halloweenies last year had so much win for me, I'm still paying them off. I suspect it's a seasonal issue- I seem to do better with deep, dark resins and florals and rich fruits, woody and incense notes that pop up in the fall. So the sweet, light springtime florals are often a gamble for me. So take my review with a grain of salt because this might have always been a doomed venture in my case.

 

I had high hopes for this one because my skin seems to take to resins well, and usually does ok with cherry blossom, too. But that's the marvel of skin chemistry- on me this is all red musk and weird, over-sweet peach. No cherry blossom or amber. The effect is rather like carpet cleaner. I'm not getting any of the "fairy garden" or incense notes the other reviewers have mentioned.

Le sigh. This might be spectacular on someone else

[lookingglass]

This is a playful, fresh, fruity floral that would be a great intro to BPAL for more mainstream fragrance lovers. At first it's all peach, but soon gets a little green, with a slightly skanky, pink drydown. I was just smelling Juicy Couture yesterday, which I secretly kind of like, and The Elephant's Leash has a very similar feel.

[milo]

This is sweet, heady floral on me:( I wish the red musk was more dominant, but all I get is heady peach, and something rather gardenia-like. This reminds me of an avon perfume from back in the 70's that my mom used to wear. I *may* be in the mood to wear this on a very rare occasion, but certainly does not warrant a bottle or even a decant.

[tinyvulture]

My first impression is peach and...weed? I guess it's just the lab's peach note -- very earthy! Red musk often amps on me, but it's barely noticeable here, so I get to appreciate the peach, cherry blossom, lilac, and sandalwood. All the notes are easy to pick out -- it's nicely balanced. (Oh, and after 30 seconds, it doesn't smell like weed at all. That was weird.)

 

Elephant dries down as a blend of lush fruit, pretty florals, and gorgeous sultry amber and warm copal. Coy and flirtatious, cheery and lovely, no shrinking violet either. Considering a bottle.

[potto]

I love this one- the peach blossom and amber remind me somewhat of Aglaea in the bottle but once it's on me the lilac is quite heady and the red musk emerges too. I like it more the longer I wear it as it's a little sharp at first but softens down into something really intriguing and complex but strangely comforting.

[asciident]

Wet: Very fruity. Almost medicinal.

 

First on: Musk and copal are the predominant notes. Fruit blossoms in the background.

 

Dry: Cherry blossom, copal, and musk. Smells a bit "grandma-y."

 

 

[claudia6913]

This is much more red musk and amber than I thought it would be. I was hoping for more of the peach blossom. It does have a soft sweet floral scent to it, but it's not a juicy wet sweetness, but a dry soft sweetness. Still very nice.

[celestia]

♔ Elephant’s Leash

 

In the Bottle: floral peach vanilla and some red wine musk

 

Wet: Peach floral liquor, wine like. Slightly fermenting or over ripe. Red musk is making it smell boozier and more incensey than I'd like, it almost reminds me of red wine?? Sweet, fruity Peach nectar and musky red sandalwood. If this is complex, it's picking all the wrong notes to impress me.

Drydown: The scent is almost identical to the wet stage, not a whole lot of morphing. It’s mostly just silky jammy peach syrup with a heavier musky undertone I get from red sandalwood. It’s nice but it doesn’t floor me. I could appreciate this without owning it. I feel like if I loved red musk, this would have absolutely floored me.

TL;DR: Sticky, ripe peaches soaked in red wine, enhanced by a hint of resinous woods

Edited November 25, 2016 by celestia

[doomsday_disco]

This starts off strong on the peach blossom on me, but then the red musk barges in and it becomes a peachy red musk party with only a hint of the cherry from the cherry blossom and a touch of the resins (I get more of the smoky copal than amber or sandalwood). Oddly enough, lilac, which is a pretty heady floral, isn't very strong here -- I don't know if it's age or my skin just running away with the peach blossom and red musk notes. I only get the barest hint of it once the scent has been dry for a while.

 

This was fun to get to try, but not really in my wheelhouse. If you're a fan of musky florals, though, this might be up your alley.