Invidiana

This smells exactly like fresh-baked pumpkin bread, but better because of the frosting note (as much as I wish I could eat frosting on my pumpkin bread, if I did that every day my clothes wouldn't fit). I really get more of a creamy vanilla frosting than a pink sugar frosting, which is more obvious in Unreasonable Pumpkin. Actually, after forgetting the notes the first time around I was hoping it would skew predominantly pumpkin cake and vanilla so WIN!

LP honeys are always a win with me, and this one doesn't disappoint. The trio of honey notes here combine into something that falls right between the lighter, more innocent honeys and the dirty, smutty honeys. Very golden and radiant. The brown sugar deepens it a little but doesn't overdo the sweetness. And of course, it's all enveloped in that wonderful cakey vanilla. Makes me want to take another look at all those honey cake and pie recipes on my Pinterest.

I love anything raspberry so it's no surprise I picked this up. The red and black raspberry notes are really true--not pure sweet candy but tart and juicy. They really stay at the forefront of this throughout the drydown, which is what I was hoping for, and there's definitely that sensual vanilla undercurrent that shows itself more and more as it dries. Pink sugar doesn't ruin it, either; it's just like a sprinkling of sugar on top of the berry cupcake, not a cloying onslaught of sweetness. Eventually I'm going to be needing all the Fairy Cakes....

This is is like cotton candy on steroids. Completely blows Aquolina Pink Sugar out of the water. Cotton candy and cake notes might sound like a recipe for something cloying but this isn't overwhelmingly sweet at all. I think that the resins balance out all that sugar, even though I can't exactly pick them out, but there is something there that gives this more depth beneath the food notes. And it really lasts, too--I went 9 hours without reapplying and it was still pretty present.

This is so divine. Boozy in the wet stage, but still boozy enough on the drydown. I amp the dark vanilla, and I can definitely tell this is a darker vanilla bean note. The cherry note is also dark, juicy in a sensual way, and definitely not cloying candy. I at black cherries all the time so I would know. I also love how the almond lends a bit of a marzipan-like quality to it, because I love anything marzipan. It is a cousin to Jubilee, but I'd say it's more shadowy, mysterious cousin.

I almost passed on this because wormwood never loved me much, neither did coriander, and anise is a hit or miss, but....chocolate. So I took a chance and I'm so glad I did. It doesn't smell distinctly like any of its parts alone but rather the sum of its parts. If I was to smell it blindfolded I'd have a very difficult time picking out notes, and I would have probably landed on sweet smoke and black musk. In the wet stage the chocolate is more obvious but it just blends so beautifully with the other notes that the whole thing is like a sheer black veil. It's also triggering something about Halloween but I can't put my finger on it. Incense from a haunted house? I have no idea. Dead sexy.

Fact: the ancient Scythians would burn coriander at a funeral to drown out the smell of death.

Thanks Mara, everything's paid for!

I can never really get enough of vanilla anything, but this is just beyond...the hint of booze in the vanilla is more prominent in thew et stage (thought it does stick around on the drydown), and then the sexy sandalwood and musk come out to play with a smoky undertone. The slightly powdery quality is powdery in the best possible way, like brushing up against a really soft fabric. White Cobra is vanilla musk on steroids.

I'm going to add Grimoire, Starry Night, Stefanija, Bohemian Butterfly and Pirate Treasure to my Mama Lion if that's okay.

The first thing I thought when I saw the description of this was holy crap those raspberry macarons from Laduree so I knew I had to get it. The rose (I'm taking that it's a red rose) blends in so well, just so well with the tangy and juicy red raspberry that it doesn't announce itself as rose at all, just adds a little something extra. Or maybe I just amp the raspberry. I don't know. As it dries down I get whiffs of coconut and vanilla which I think are only going to get more prominent as it ages. It really smells just like those macarons with a side of coconut-infused vanilla cream.

Alright I'm going to reserve one bottle of Mama Lion right now......and anxiously waiting to see what's in Grimoire and Persephone Potion.

Jennifer's Summer Shine

Rich tropical coconut and marshmallow fluff melded with a softer subdued pink grapefruit oil and a few drops of banana.

I really hope I'm not out of line posting a review of this before the creator, but I'm not sure what her forum name is and this scent is just too amazing not to share.

You know those marshmallows rolled in coconut? I can never find them but I scarf them like an idiot when I do. Anyway, think of yourself being surrounded in clouds of those, swirled with creamy banana and given an irresistible citrusy zing by pink grapefruit. And while citrus can burn off on me sometimes, the tangy contrast here actually lasts. There's a bit more citrus in the wet stage, and more vanilla marshmallow on the drydown, but it's heavenly either way. I could roll in it forever.

I LOVE this. Not a common thing for me to say about pineapple scents, because some can go very wrong on my skin, but I do. On me the vanilla musk is actually dominant, followed by the coconut, and then by a tangy zing of pineapple that never turns saccharine (again, with my chemistry, a miracle). When it's fully dried down I also get the orchid, and orchid is one of my favorite florals. I love all those heady tropical florals as a rule. Unexpected winner!

Body Paint and Ambrosia of Eros for me, and two for my two best friends whose birthdays are within days of each other next month: Spirit Bottle for the resin ho, and Tropical Musk for the parrothead (seriously, she's a hardcore Jimmy Buffet/tiki bar parrothead and loves Lestat). And two more bottles from the sale for me: Fang and Weenie. I have samples and both smell perfectly female on me!

Vampire Bait, which is VERY appropriate considering my current avatar.

I want mine for October so I'm good.

While I have Tropical Musk I might print out that label for the parrots alone! I'm sure Lestat will appreciate.

This is NOT cat pee jasmine--in fact I can't remember an LP that had cat pee jasmine--but anyway, it's not, so have no fear. While the word "moist" normally squicks me out, this actually makes me think of cool, clean, fresh water surrounded by tropical flowers. I think the musk (which I'm assuming is white musk) adds to that clean feeling. It's a sheer, sparkling floral that's a godsend on humid days like this.

The smoked sugarcane note--can I say divine? That with the coconut makes this scent something really different from any coconut scent I've come across before, and addictive. Along with the sensual aspect, there's also a refreshing aspect to this, which is a godsend in this horribly hot weather. It's probably coming from the cactus flower and the coconut water note (as opposed to coconut cream). We need, need, NEED another scent with smoked sugarcane in the future because it's that good. I can imagine it would go wonderfully with all sorts of *ahem* fall notes...just sayin'...

First of all, let me tell you that I grow hydrangeas all around my house and the hydrangea note is dead on. I was actually so happy to see this scent because I feel it's a flower that doesn't get as much play in perfumery as, say, the almighty rose or jasmine. I love how they honey and cocoa butter make the scent as a whole feel like a honey cake covered in hydrangea petals. It's also really soothing, kind of like when I sit outside and the breeze carries the scent of the hydrangeas right to my nose. If you liked Phantom of the Trailer Park (which was a lilac/gourmand combo), you'll love this.

On me this smells exactly like...wait for it...I need a moment here..........that cotton candy swirl Bubblicious from the 90s that they don't frickin make anymore (because everything I like must be promptly discontinued). Not Bubble Yum, specifically Bubblicious. It's so nostalgic I'm dying here. I always get skeptical about watermelon notes but my skin amps the cotton candy more, and the watermelon pushes it into the territory of smelling exactly like that gum. Maybe they used a watermelon flavoring. Who knows, it was blue and pink after all. The only downside is that my skin ate it but that could have been stress.

As a rule I think just about anything goes with coconut. Wet it's all sparkling blackcurrant and ylang ylang, a summery fruity floral and then the creamy coconut and vanilla come in and give it a more tropical feel. As it dries down the blackcurrant shows a bit of its dark side, and I can sense just a hint of shadowy patchouli underneath it all. This keeps getting better on the drydown and I think it's going to get even better with age.

A bit refreshing, a bit tangy, a bit floral, a bit pink...kind of like having a strawberry lemonade on the boardwalk in Florida. The rose in this is not overwhelming; it's more of a pink rose that actually balances out the bright, sweet strawberry. There is just a hint of patchouli at the very end of the drydown; it doesn't define itself as patchouli but more of a supporting note that grounds the entire scent. The zing of this one's whole strawberry lemonade vibe is actually the only thing keeping me awake right now, because I'm that dead from partying with zombies all weekend.

All my reservations are good. I think I'm going to go ahead and claim that last Milfy Summer. Enough for my greedy claws, checking out now!

ETA: All paid. I was such a swine this time around! But if any more Mama Lion becomes available....just sayin'.

Lucky! I was much more consumed with wanting bigger boobs than wanting bigger shoulders.

Same. I'm an athletic body type and the width of my upper back and shoulders make me go up a size in jackets and dresses pretty often. Meanwhile, turn me around and I'm an ironing board (okay maybe not a complete ironing board but nowhere near "well endowed"). Even worse, my ribs stick out underneath my boobs so to the untrained eye I may appear to have kept my baby fat from the third grade permanently stored there. Of course there IS no fat in that area; it's all bone, but it's still embarrassing. I mean, I got my period at 11. Where are the melons that were supposed to come with it?

ETA: I noticed in the past year they grew. Maybe it has something to do with my thyroid medication being switched. They didn't grow much, but they still grew. Like from a B to a B and a half. Weird.