Courtiers and Cats

[Seajewel]

Balmy amber musk, cedarwood, agarwood, spikenard, black pepper, cacao, tobacco absolute, toasted cardamom, and cream.

[LavenderCoffee]

This is such a beautiful addition to the pantheon of bpal cat scents! It's very rich and complex, and kinda RICH, you know, befitting members of the royal court. It's a pale oil with flecks of what I assume is cacao suspended throughout. Wearing it is like looking through a prism, getting fleeting impressions of different notes the way you get different colors - or I suppose, more appropriately, light reflecting off a cat's fur.  

When wet, I get cedar and agarwood alternating with cacao most prominently. Dry, it's toasted cardamom time, with tobacco flecked cream in the background, especially in spots less exposed to the air like elbow and armpits. It's not a creamy scent, but it's very rich and sleek. I keep wanting to call it a warm golden brown sort of color, even though the cats depicted are not, but the amber musk picks the thread of cacao back up at the tail end of things, so yeah. Super wearable and comfy, but also slinky and elevated. 

[MamaMoth]

kitties, but make it fancy.

the amber musk, cedarwood, and cardamom are giving me warm, furry cat vibes in that bpal way. possibly with the cacao adding to this impression as well, though it is a minor player on me despite the dark globules suspended in the oil.  that amber musk is nice... it's nothing so gauche as a brown musk, but it is still velvety and soft and kind of earthy in a sleek-furred way. i'd say the musk is the most prominent note in the blend, but i do tend to amp musks in general so ymmv.  the dry cardamom is a light touch that mostly melts into the blend as it settles down.

separate from all that, the agarwood, tobacco, and black pepper sort of independently group together for me to represent the courtiers. it's like a luxe but edgy high-end perfume that reminds me very much of the desolate, deserted trees. (which i loved, but found very difficult to describe, so samesies here.) i can easily imagine this as the scent of a privileged royal attendant, wearing all the right clothes and saying all the right things and stabbing you in the back as soon as it becomes beneficial.

once my brain made the courtiers/cats distinctions in this blend, i can't unsmell it...  but the aspects mesh quite nicely.  over the course of wear, the kitties edged out the courtiers just slightly in prominence, so it ends up more soft, dry, a little woodsy, and fairly musky. the courtiers are still hanging out though, so this keeps a thread of sophistication running through it. 

i really enjoy this one, and can see myself reaching for it as a going-out-for-the-evening perfume, when i'm dressed to the nines but still want to feel warm and approachable.

 

Edited March 13, 2023 by MamaMoth

[ghoulnextdoor]

The biscuity warmth of musk and roasted cocoa beans, a sassy spike of black pepper, spikenard’s earthy, dirt-between-paws mustiness; between the woods and the amber and the hint of creaminess, this is a softly rumbling purr of comfort and coziness.

[puellacaerulea]

This one is warm amber, woods, and cream, with a kick of black pepper in the background. Overall, a warm, brown, floofy scent with a bit of spicy bite. It's pleasant, but I have other blends in my collection that scratch my itch for this particular scent family. Fans of scents like Judgmental Longhorn and Year of the Ox might enjoy this one.

[Little Bird]

This smells like it could be a fancy truffle scent or one of the Thirteen blends.  A creamy chocolate center that's been flavored with sweet cardamom and a touch of black pepper, rolled in rich, earthy cocoa powder.  The dry wood, sweet tobacco smoke, and amber musk give it an elegant undertone that reminds me of an expensive, dark, men's cologne.  It's wonderful.  I think Courtiers and Cats is my favorite of this year's Lupers.  I have always loved wearing blends that feel masculine to me and I love them twice as much if they also have a bit of a gourmand twist. 

Dark and decadent.

[theredkilt]

I have a very weird experience with this blend. 

 

I blane the oud for giving this blend an indolic vibe. The cardamom, cocoa, musk, tobacco - everything melds in well together, but after 1 hour an ammonia like note shows up and messes up the entire balance. 

 

The recently released Bearded Dragon does a much much better job balancing the cardamom, musk, vanilla notes and i wish Courtiers and Cats went that route.