Lupercalia Single Note: Riding Crop

[Katillac]

*crack*

This is my favorite leather scent hands down.
I just put in an order for 4 more bottles because i can't let it get away from me.
It smells *exactly* like a crop (or a really well made cat o' 9 tails). While smelling it on me i looked at my husband and went "YOU CAN SMELL THE KNOTS!".

 

If you love leather, you need this.
It could also blend well with vanilla heavy/foodie blends.
I wore it with "eat me" and i wanted to violate my own personal space.

[Atrous]

One of the most realistic leather notes.

Not to be too on the nose but this really does smell like black leather that's been broken in.

Also, there's something faint, I think maybe skin musk?

 

This is a really great scent for leather fans.

[VetchVesper]

Oh yeeeeeessss...

 

Just what I was hoping for. Very much a leather single note on me. This is not soft, genteel, kid leather, nor hard, black, shiny leather. It's brown, worn-in, comfortable leather. It's very nice, and I'm really going to enjoy blending it with other things.

 

I could see how this could also be used to "masculine" things up if that's something you're looking for.

 

Yum.

[whisperstilled]

Far and away, my favorite of any of this year's Lupers I have tested or smelled. I think the first thing I said when I tested it was simply "...sex palace."

 

Since this is a 'thematic' single note instead of a 'real' single note, I'm pretty confident that the other reviewers are right, and there's something else going on here aside from leather. There's a subtle spicy quality as it dries on the skin, but this is shiny, dark leather to me with a little musk for good measure - perhaps black musk, but I'm not positive. Just. I mean. It's heaven. If you like leather scents, tell naughty santa you've been good this year and beg him to buy some for you before it comes down from the site.

[Casablanca]

Smoky deep leather. First impression was birch tar and leather.

 

This lasted two or three hours on me with little change.

[sprout]

I am pretty sure that there is Musk in this as well as a raw, broken in leather. This smells like bridle after you left it overnight in the barn and riding the day before. Like the sweat from the horses has seasoned the leather.

 

I think I will be buying back ups. This really brings me back to memories of riding horses with my aunt.

[Numanoid]

So, I decided to try this one in my second Luper order!! I am always iffy when it comes to leather notes, since they can be TOO heavy or way too light. Maybe it's me.

 

Sniffing in the bottle, think someone said this above, but it is a clean leather. Not worn or old...freshly made.

 

On my skin, it stays the same and it is real nice. It warms up a bit and gets a little more "aged" smelling...like it's been worn a couple weeks and broken in. On me, it stays close to the skin, but has a nice throw. I know that doesn't make sense, but there it is.

 

This is a great leather scent... perfectly unisex. Not too sweet for guys, not too masculine for the ladies. If you are like me and like not-too-over-the-top leather blends, get this one! I think it would make a great layering note as well.

[degaussingcrown]

Very much a "new" leather smell if that makes sense. Not soft and warm, but strong and fresh. It's a bit weird to say a scent called Riding Crop reminds me of my father, but it's very comforting to me since after work he smelled of a mix of dirt, sweat, leather, and a concoction of mechanical fluids.

 

Definitely would like to try and see how layering this with Rivet.Goth and scents along those lines would turn out.

[heatherlyn]

For me this was more of a warm, soft, mellow leather - I don't get the more sharp note of a new leather. Very realistic and quite long lasting.

[MCS4096]

Leather may be my favorite note. I've tried many many bpal leather blends. I was so excited to see this SN, as I've longed for a leather SN forever, and it was an instant buy. Unfortunately, this is not working out for me at all and I actually think it's because this isn't entirely leather.. or rather, it's a leather note comprised of a mix of other notes that don't wear like "leather" traditionally does for me. As others sense, I too think there's musk here and perhaps that's my problem. This feels most like the leather in Edgar Miche to me-- smelling much more like musk and some spice that start out as a perfume version of leather, an idea of leather, but quickly turn acrid and sour and more like an unfortunate body odor. The Red Rider originally (the very first imp I got of it, when it was first released) smelled so accurately of warm, soft, worn leather.. but by the time I got around to a bottle I would swear it was actually a mix of red and skin musks masquerading as "leather" This has seemed the case in some recent bpal leather blends (Unicorn and Ram to a degree for example) and I'm beginning to wonder if leather notes have gotten prohibitively expensive or the lab changed their source. Clearly not everyone is having the same experience as I am, so I'm pretty bummed to find my chemistry destroying this breed of leather.

[Little Bird]

I was a fan of the lab's leather notes (love The Riders in the GC, Brom Bones, The Manuscript, Spanked, Quincy Morris, Liz, and so many others), but the Luper leathers this year have been a huge fail on me, with the exception of Snake Skin. They smell harsh, cold, and chemical. While the other scents smell like actual leather, these smell like cheap, chemical interpretations of leather, if that makes sense. Sharp and harsh.

Riding Crop was the worst leather for me.

It smells like black, harsh leather (maybe an air freshener interpretation of raw leather to hang on a car mirror?), someone blowing cigarette smoke in my face, a hint of dirty ash tray, and a weird, bitter, watery-green overlay that smells like celery.

I wish I'd just gotten two bottles of Snake Skin and passed on the other leathers in this update.

Riding Crop smells so much like cigarette smoke in the drydown that I had to scrub it off after an hour, because it was literally making me cough and feel like I couldn't breathe.

Chemical, raw, not-sweet-at-all leather, cigarette smoke and a dirty ash tray, and celery...

[zankoku_zen]

Black leather and musk. This actually codes more to a brown leather on me, with some vetiver thrown in as an overlay and some black musk as well. I think the musk is meant to evoke horses. This seems like an outdoorsy-sort of leather. Great throw and wear length.

[milquetoast]

I LOVE leather notes so I definitely couldn't pass this one up. I was hoping this might be something like De Sade.

 

In the bottle this is super realistic leather. It really does smell like a finely crafted leather toy. You can almost smell the raw edges of a high quality flogger.

 

Wet on my skin is very much the same. This is a *strong* scent, a little goes a long way.

 

As it dries I got my wish and it becomes very very close to my beloved De Sade.

 

Overall it's just 100% leather and I love it. Bought a backup bottle immediately. Also, I think this note will be good for layering. I was testing a few other things on other parts of my arm and it mingled nicely with a cakey/"evil icing" scent from another company. Kind of reminded me of Le Pere Fouettard which is one of my all-time favorite scents.

[littletiern]

this is such a complex scent on me, not at all a single note. which actually seems fitting because let's be real a literal riding crop, the wielder, recipient, relationship between the three is anything if not complex. in the bottle it's delicious leather with something like the scent of the master behind it. a delicious masculine scent; the musk? i'm awful at actual scent notes. dry down it loses all the leather on me and it's something sweet, feminine and soft but wild. not at all what i was expecting! it was said by someone above the leather smells a little "fake" and not like the other BPAL leathers and i'm inclined to agree. i still love it, but it's not what i was expecting. which, let's be real, is basically how i would describe a literal riding crop.

 

i'm still hunting for my dream leather scent! the Fighter from the RPG series is close, the steel is the only note i'm like meh but i still love it. the Ranger from the same series is also amazing, probably the buckskin in it, but it doesn't have much staying power on my skin. i haven't tried any of the Riders! any suggestions on where to start if i'm looking for a truly "leather" scent?

[Lamia]

I used to work at a leather store in NYC making leather items for leatherfolk. It got to the point where my skin and hair smelled like leather.

 

This bottle arrived today and leaked just a smidge, just enough to get a little bit on my hands when I unwrapped it. I cannot stop huffing myself, and remember a time in my 20's when I was surrounded by leather and a gloriously aberrant and supportive society. Whatever you have to pay for this bottle, it's worth it.

 

It's sweet leather, a fresh-cut hide, a toy just purchased from the shop, a promise before the blindfold.

[Penance]

Preconceived notions:

 

I get overwhelmed by the smell of too much leather but I still love a good leather scent.  I've tried basically all of the Lab's leather-heavy scents and they're all quite different, so I'm really excited to try a new one.  There's probably going to be something here other than leather, though, or else it wouldn't be called Riding Crop.  Some wood or something?  We'll see!

 

First sniff:

 

Pure leather.  It reminds me somewhat of De Sade or the leather note from Rivet.Goth.  Black leather for sure.  Very, very slightly chemically.

 

Wet on skin:

Mostly leather, but there's something almost chemical or harsh in the background.  I can't figure out what it is, but it's not wood.  It could be rubber or latex...or even shellac or some sort of rosin.

 

Dry down:

This is like a mish-mash of De Sade, Assassin, Rogue, Rivet.Goth (minus the motor oil and metal) and a black leather single note all rolled into one.  There's something almost cologne-like about that non-leather note and I still can't place it.  It's kind of like the rosin scent in Rogue or maybe the shellac in Rocking-Horse-Fly.  It's hard to tell under the very heavy leather overtone.

 

The final verdict:

 

I can see the riding crop in this.  It's not a cat o' nine tails.  There's a lacquered handle sort of vibe along with the leather.  

 

I'm not 100% sure about that chemical undertone, so I'm going to have to try this a few more times on my skin.  If I'm still not quite getting along with whatever that is, I'll just wear it in a scent locket, because I otherwise enjoy it.

[dancingchair]

In the bottle, this is beautiful leather. It's smoky and snappy new, like it hasn't been broken in. On my skin, it goes a tiny bit BBQ. I think my skin chemistry must sweeten the perfume up just enough for this odd transformation, because it isn't overwhelmingly like glazed barbecue ribs or anything. It also doesn't ruin the perfume for me since I can usually still identify it as leather. It's still smoky, but it is more sweet now. I get an impression of something diabolical lurking under the surface from it, sweet black leather swirled with a haze of smoke.

 

Layering this is heavenly. Some layering notes I've tried don't really mesh well with other perfumes as well as I'd like, but this blends very well. I'm very excited to come up with fun perfume combos.

 

I do wish this lasted longer on me, since it fades away after a couple of hours. I really like it while it's around, though.