Black Cat

So I had my evening shower and washed off the last traces of Six of Cups, and decided I couldn't wait to try Fox Medicine again. First of all -- thanks for the amazing review, Androstenol, it really helped tide me over waiting for this! Your words are beautiful and really spot on. Yesterday when I first opened the bottle, I got the soapiness, and I think if I hadn't had your review to go by I might have been alarmed. Tonight though I realized it's not quite soapiness in the bottle to my nose anymore -- there is a slightly gamey wildness to it that is wonderful. And now slathered on... oh, this is just what I wanted! It's a gorgeous nature/woods scent. It's both soft and a little bit sharp. It's a little bit bright, and a little bit dark... I get the musk and the patchouli, and the fallen leaves are just perfect! Also -- I asked for ozone because I adore it as a note, but it often can overwhelm a scent for me. The ozone here is perfectly balanced, tempering the earthiness and introducing a bit of sky into the picture but not pounding the other notes into submission. The whole thing conveys a sense of being in the woods on a summer afternoon, with patches of sunlight between the trees, with a strong breeze coming through and maybe a bank of dark clouds building in the west to let you know some weather is on the way, and... catching a flash of red fur out of the corner of your eye, and a whiff of musk and animal and wild. I am including the label here for your delectation because the cuteness! Jennifer's Fox Medicine Exotic red musk, aged patchouli, ozone, and the dry earthy scent of fallen leaves on a forest floor. Also, I love to read the meanings for notes, so I will put those here as well. MUSK ~ Self confidence and strength, sexual attractant, heightens passions and arousal. PATCHOULI ~ Soothes and uplifts; sensual, sexually stimulating, lust, fertility, money. Meditative and transforming. AIR/OZONE ACCORD ~ Thought, communication, ideas, awareness. I echo what was said above about wearing this for comfort, meditation and bed. And I can definitely see it as a great stealth scent, if I have to be somewhere official and somewhat stressful I can sneak a sniff and be transported to the freedom of the woods. This is magnificent, Mara, thank you so much! PS. Full disclosure, I'm wearing the copped version of this as I review! ETA: OMG, you guys, the drydown of this is so... I can't even! It's soft, warm and mellow but there is this little fizzy wave of energy to it that is out of this world! I can't believe I promised to give two bottles of this away!! :-)

Mama Lion is AMAZING. I got a good sniff in before all the stupid allergies and headaches started and OMG. Phenomenal! I would definitely buy another bottle because I'd love to give some to my best friend, but I'm hoarding my own bottle all for me!

Oh, Mara, thank you for the gorgeousness and the magic!! I can't believe how generous you are in taking time out from the eleventy million things you already have to do to craft the PEs. They are such an amazing experience for me and one of my all time favorite things about LP. Thank you!!!

Jennifer's Six of Cups Ripe strawberries, sweet heavy cream, a dash of rich vanilla, and a pinch of sugar. Sweet and creamy and joyful! STRAWBERRY ~ Attraction, friendship, draws fortunate circumstances in all areas of your life. MILK/BUTTER/CREAM ~ Nurturing, soothing, eases troubled relationships. Goddess energy. VANILLA ~ Aphrodisiac, inspires happiness, playfulness, sexual arousal, lust, vitalizing. SUGAR ~ Attracts love, luck, sweetness and riches. Lust inducing, wishes granted. This is so luscious!! Here is what I wrote to Mara: "While I am enjoying One True Love, I'd like a love potion with a slightly different slant.. . I'd like something to evoke a chivalric, generous, not necessarily romantic (but it's OK if it goes that way!) protective and loving response. This is actually the response I get from wearing Cuddle Bunny (which I'd love to pair it with). In Tarot terms, I'm thinking of the 6 of Cups in the Rider-Waite deck... open-hearted joyful innocence, child-like (but not childish, as per Cuddle Bunny!). I'd like to be able to come to people from that place (as opposed to paranoid, guarded, cynical, etc) and be met with a trustworthy response I'm also desperately craving a strawberry scent. The problem I have with most strawberry scents is that (to my nose, anyway) they tend to smell like strawberry flavored candy, or strawberry jam, rather than the fruit. I'm longing for a strawberries and cream combo, and it seemed as if those notes might work magically as well." As far as the scent goes, this is home run! In the vial, the strawberry is most prominent -- juicy and ripe. When I put it on, though, the cream just blooms. It's soft, pink, creamy sweet goodness -- almost like strawberry ice cream! I had originally planned to do this in the spring, and I think I'm going to tuck it away for bit, because I have a hunch that if it's this delightful now, it's going to be gorgeous when it's aged a few months, and it's a bit sweet for the summer. I was hoping it might also work as a cold weather scent, and I think it might be a perfect sleep comfort scent when we get into the long dark nights. As for the intent... I'll have to report back on that one! But it has a lovely innocent air to it, as well as something indescribably comforting, and I couldn't be more pleased. Thank you Mara! PS. I mentioned 6 of cups in the email, but Mara was the one who had the brilliant idea to use it as the name. So perfect!!!

Had to swoop by here and say: hats off to the Potion Master! I got my box with All the PEs today, and every last one is a dream! I will have to wait to do full reviews one day at a time because I think I broke my sniffer trying to test everything at once, but these are glorious, and I'm going to have so much fun taking each one for an individual spin! Also, dear Mara, may I pretty please also request, if still available, a bottle of Nyree's Lovebirds? I've been eying it since the labels went up.... I will pay for all these in the next couple of days. (For the record, I am having to practice great restraint not snatching up the remaining White Cobras... soooooooo slithery and smoky and gorgeous!! But I will try to leave a few things for others. :-) )

Package is out for delivery AND since I am working from home, I can stalk the postman instead of getting the peach slip and having to wait an extra day to pick it up! ETA: OMG YOU GUYS IT'S HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, no worries, Mara!!! I knew it was a ginormous order (to use the technical term) and as I said above, that it would be worth the wait!!!

I can't stand it. I was going to be good! But -- If available, could I get one more each of mine, Mara? Summer Shine Fox Medicine (thanks for the lovely review, androstenol!) 6 of Cups

Wendylynne, I keep meaning to mention -- I have found that if I copy and paste the shipping number (or whatever it's called) from the Stamps notice into the USPS tracking on their website, I often get more recent and detailed information. ETA: May not apply here if the whole system is down though! ETA: OMG SHIPPING NOTICE!!!!!! PEs and NR sampler on the way!!!!!

Oh, JLisa, if it's any comfort I haven't even gotten my shipping notice yet, so I'm going crazy right along with you! Seriously, though, try not to stress out and let it ruin your fun. Sometimes Mara ends up with more bottles than she originally estimated, or sometimes if there is heavy demand and she still has the ingredients she can brew some more for us. Also, it's rare for everything to work for everyone, so you can always keep an eye on the trade threads. Don't lose hope! Plus, LP packages are ALWAYS worth the wait! :-) ETA: And I just read my post from a few days ago in the What Are We Ordering thread... apparently I needed to be advising myself similarly at that point in time! LOL Hey, androstenol, usually we wait for the creator to start the thread and do the first "official" review. In this case, since the creator (me) isn't going to have any bottles to review for a bit, I give the go-ahead to anyone who wants to give me a preview! ETA: That goes for you Summer Shine people too! Black Cat wants to hear ALL ABOUT IT!!!!!

Oh, CONGRATS, cutie.pie!! Can't wait to see it! I am making myself crazy. I paid for sampler and other people's PEs last week and am still waiting on the shipping notice, but reviews are making me regret not going for full bottles on Moist and Steamy Bikini. Do I just pull the trigger and order, re-setting the clock on my existing order, or run the risk of things selling out?! This feels like a dilemma worthy of a philosophy class! And Eggers -- yay that you have a sampler! And Peeniefeet!

OK, seeing the reviews start to trickle in has me *seriously* regretting not going full bottle on Steamy Bikini and Moist! I foresee another order going out very quickly after this current one arrives.....

Oh, my goodness, can't believe that in addition to my own PEs (which I am so excited about I could yelp!) I am getting two Cobras and a Mama Lion!!!!! I shall be invincible. Thank you so much, dear Mara, I am rushing off to send payment so that my giant order can finally stand complete. I can't believe how much work you are willing to do for us! Humblest thanks for all the magic.

I just need to add that I am so thrilled to read the notes for Fox Medicine!!

Oh, they look amazing! I am confirming my original request: 1 Victoria's White Cobra 1 Victoria's Black Cobra And if available, I'd love a Mama Lion! Or at least to be on the wait list!

I already have a ginormous order in the works and I was pretty sure I would want at least a couple of other PEs, so I am waiting to order the sampler with those and have the whole shebang come together in one overwhelming festival of awesomeness.

Congrats, DD!!! Have a ton of fun with your research!

Oooh, I traded away Ambrosia because it never quite worked for me, but I still have Lusty Cherry, and I never would have thought of those two together!

Hey Cherise! I went back and reread LadyV's Possible Parfums thread in her journal where she originally talked about coming up with the Cobra concepts... And yes, I somehow managed to fall off my back porch (basically standing still!) with the dog the other night, and broke a bone in my foot! It's a pain in the ass because it really restricts mobility for the next while, but a very straightforward prognosis and should heal just fine. I am very lucky it wasn't the ankle. ETA: Rose, I'm very encouraged by your reading on the 6 of Cups energy, it is exactly what I'm hoping for! And I too am kind of losing my mind waiting for notes on Aphrodite's Belt... such an intriguing name!

Ha! That sounds like a perfect use, LV! I felt like One True Love was way more grown-up and partnership-y than I am capable of at the moment. This one says, "Come take care of me and be my devoted white knight asking nothing but to serve and protect me and bring me all the cupcakes and chocolate I desire NOW." I reread your Cobra notes and OMFG!!! So amazing, I can't wait to hear from Mara what they ended up being!

Hearts, I absolutely love your concept for the Mama Lion! I can't wait to hear what Mara came up with for that! The Nevyn Scent label tickles me every time I look at it... I so love hearing all the reports of next generation LP'ers getting started. And truly, all the labels and names... seeing everyone's fab concepts (I'm looking at your MILFY Summer in particular, StacyK!) brought to life by Mara's talent and craft is so moving. This is such a creative, vibrant, fun-loving community! And thanks to all for the well-wishes. They really help!

Oooh, Memorare, that sounds very yummy! And WendyLynne -- you are so right about Mara's magic. I had her make me a PE in January specifically to help with my therapy relationship and the number of powerful positive changes that happened -- many not initiated by me! -- was spooky. So I think from here on out I am always going to fold intent into my PEs!

Wendy that sounds quite exquisite! And d'oh -- here are mine! 6 of Cups -- I asked Mara for a love potion with a different energy from the truly amazing One True Love. I am in a fairly tender place right now, and I want to evoke the most chivalric, generous, protective, not even necessarily romantic love, though it could be. I told her I was thinking of the energy of the 6 of Cups (never occurred to me what perfect name that was!) -- best most innocent child-like fresh beginnings. I also have been craving a strawberry scent so this is strawberry, cream, dash of vanilla and tiny pinch of sugar. Fox Medicine -- I have been dreaming up this one for a long time, and didn't twig to the perfection of asking Commander Fox for Fox Medicine until I sent her the email! I wanted something earthy and animalic and natural -- asked for red musk, red patchouli and ozone, left the last note up to her. Name comes from this link, which a friend sent me after foxes started popping up everywhere: https://morningstar.netfirms.com/foxtotem.html Summer Shine -- another therapy potion! I wanted something that would both give protection and strength for telling hard truths but also be a bit of glamour potion to let me still feel fresh and pretty while I do so.... grapefruit, coconut, marshmallow root and banana. I am so excited to finally get these in my hot little hands! ETA: I cannot describe how wonderful it was to wake up to this after yesterday's challenges, and since I have to spend the day lying low with my broken foot propped up, I can't think of a better thing to do than just stalk this thread continuously.

Oh MY GODDESS!!! The beauty! Mara, I love my labels and I adore the names you picked! And if there any available, I'd love to get 1 each of Victoria's Cobras (so 1 White Cobra and 1 Black)! Would love to hear notes/descriptions from others. ETA: Love ALL the names and labels!

Congrats, Donsie! And yay, hi Mai! Welcome back!