Black Cat

OMG, Mara, I am just reading the notes for mine and getting so excited!! The foodie ones sound spot on, and as for Farmhouse Afternoon.... it sounds as if it ended up being something much more complex (and time consuming to make) than anyone has a right to expect for a PE! You are beyond amazing, and I am so excited to try all of these -- thank you SO MUCH. PS And the labels!! Perfection. Thank you!

Oh, please take care of yourself, PM! These are so very worth waiting for! And may I add Lindee's Summertime Classic to my list? I just realized I still have PEs reserved from last month as well -- I'm so sorry! Is it easier for you guys if I pay for all of these now and have them folded into the current order, or would it be simpler if I let this monster order finally get processed and then make another monster order next week?

Hi Beach Goddess, and welcome to the forum! It's a wonderful and complicated questions, to pre-mix or not! What Becca said is absolutely true, strictly speaking purchasing separately will make your LP budget stretch much further. That being said, the unscented pheros can only be purchased as samples once a year, and even the samples cost more than the perfume samples. So I often find (and didn't come up with this, it was advice I read on the forum when I got here) that the best way to try out a phero and find out whether it is going to work for me and therefore be worthy of the full bottle investment, is to try it first in one of Mara's phero-enhanced LPs. And right now, between the April/May Totem collection, the June LP collection, and the new July NRs, you should be able to find samples with just about anything you want to try! That being said, there have also been times when I have fallen in love with a particular scent and felt pulled to go ahead and invest in a boosted bottle. It's not always practical, but sometimes it's what happens. :-) I could in fact see it happening with LP Original and Heart & Soul! And Rose, yes, LP Original is a delight! I can't believe I've missed it all this time! So glad it's in the permanent collection, because yeah, that falling in love with something only after it's sold out can be such a heartbreak. Glad I can count on a bottle of this!

I can't believe I've been active on this forum for almost a year and I am only testing LP Original for the first time! This is, unsurprisingly, gorgeous: a soft silky creamy vanilla shot through with the "sparkle of gold" ssupytalp describes so perfectly above! I had a stretch where I was trying to find my perfect vanilla scent and tried many things which, while lovely, were not what I had in mind. THIS is what I had in mind. My only concern was that there was a brief stage where it got a bit plasticky, but that didn't last and now its back to creamy cloudy complex vanilla sweetness. Yum! I bet this is amazing with Heart and Soul....

Sorry, Lovestruck, I just saw this! My VERY limited understanding -- and please someone smack me if I am spreading false info -- is that perfumes/pheros in straight oil need body heat to disperse (hence the recommendation to do the "lollipop" on torso and smoosh with wrists for the oil roll-ons), while the alcohol in the sprays increases diffusion. I get many of my pheros and perfumes in sprays in part so I can put them on wrists/neck/hair and have the alcohol get the stuff out there in a way it won't if I put oil on those places which don't heat up as much.

I have the rebrew of this, and it's delightful -- peppermint cupcake!! I wasn't sure when I put it on tonight if I might have chosen the wrong weather -- it's humid and mid-80's here -- but the peppermint keeps the sugary cake-y goodness from overwhelming me. It's delicate, fresh and young. This is the perfect scent for my inner 8 year old!

Oooh, if there are any left, I would love a Midnight Snack!

In that case these were made for you too! In addition to Lady Luck, may I also request a Something White?

Oh, yes, I forgot: please may I reserve a Lady Luck?

OMG, I cannot wait for this!!! Brilliant name change! Yes, I'm the one who somehow needed THREE this month! The first two are very straightforward foodies. Sunset is based on a blood orange creme brulee I had years ago and never got over -- I asked for blood orange, custard, whipped cream and just a touch of carmelized sugar. Key Lime is just what it sounds like -- lime, custard, toasted coconut and whipped cream. In both cases, I asked for a creamy bright citrus with the sweetness taking a bit of a back seat. For Farmhouse Afternoon I'm very eager to hear notes from Mara, when she has a chance, because I wrote more of a novel for that one -- all I can say is that the label captures the setting/weather I was thinking of perfectly!! I was wanting something in the family of Summer Belle or Spring's Jasmine Rain, but with the earth and grass notes more prominent, instead of being the background for the fruit/floral notes. But maybe a hint of lilac and/or ozone hovering in there. Ooooh, I just can't wait! Mara, I just can't believe these gorgeous labels! You are AMAZING!! ETA: Oh, and Celrynnya, so cool to see the fruits of your musings in your PE thread! These look gorgeous! I am going to reread threads on The Garage and Sleep Tight Might, and I too am very intrigued by Lindee's Summertime Classic!

Just want to echo this -- with Lumina, I do sprays high on the neck, front and back, in my hair, and on my forearms. I use the torso for the more cops-heavy phero blends.

Holy amazeballs!!! These look... these look.... Words fail me! but

I have been waiting to be in the right space to review this, although I sampled it the day the box arrived.... I knew from Seajammarket's beautiful review that this has such love and history attached to it, and Mara's description of the scent on the PE thread was of course very intriguing. The scent is, all on its own, just lovely -- like raindrops is very accurate! It is soft and delicate (I think between this and Terra Mater "rose stems" is my new favorite note!), wearing close to the skin but at the same time a very palpable presence. It's also a fascinating combination of a velvety texture, while the scent is very evocative of water. Actually, what it makes me think of is being in a greenhouse, with rain beating down, and all the windows mostly closed to keep the water out, but with the scent of fresh rain and cool air coming through at the windowsill. With a beloved cat crouching on one's shoulder or curled in the lap, of course! As for the intent... of course it's possible I'm influenced by the knowledge I bring to it, I suppose, with the the lovely moving tribute above (plus being privileged to have had a very special email exchange with SJ about our beloved companions and Mara's genius for memorializing them!), but I can feel a very quiet powerful energy with this PE. Even though it's not evoking *my* beloved familiar, it brings to life all the associations/emotions from my own life, loves and losses. I had a really hard afternoon today, nothing happened but I was just in one of those moments where the accumulated griefs of the last few years snuck up and hit really hard. I came home determined to pull out all the stops for self-soothing.... cook a really good dinner, read a comforting escapist book, and of course snuggle with my kitty boys! I was trying to think of the perfect LP to add to the mix and almost slapped myself in the head when I caught sight of my bottle of Jan's Bonne Belle sitting on my bedside table with that impossibly sweet picture on the label. This brought the magic. So thank you, Seajammarket, for sharing this loveliness with us! I feel so lucky to have gotten a bottle of this. I'm going to treasure it and use it carefully, but I foresee using it quite a bit when the tough times come!

Yes, Lovestruck, I wanted to chime in and say that this one doesn't play "incense-y" on me. I love incense-y -- see my raving over Exotica! -- but with Sanctuary there is something different going on. The carnation sweetened/softened by marshmallow root is at the heart of it. The myrrh and sandalwood are the grounding force, but they don't overwhelm. All the notes are in perfect balance. I don't have another LP that does quite what this one does... so far, it's in a category of its own for me.

Brilliant! Many thanks!

Not to hijack your thread, but do you mind if I quickly ask: what proportions do you use for your room sprays? I'd love to do something like this! And... to swiftly return to topic... I want to say: I'd forgotten what serious staying power this has for me! Most scents just don't last very long on my skin, but this one really does. An added bonus!

I just wanted to pop in and rave about this one again. Somehow I had been thinking of it as more of a colder weather scent, so despite initial love had not reached for it in a while. Well, today, I had to go into a situation where some repair was needed. I had a lot of trust that I would be met with goodwill, but somehow there has just been an escalation of miscommunication and struggle despite good intent on both sides. I was trying to figure out what scent/phero would best help aid me, and then spotted Sanctuary, basically thumped myself on the head and said "D'oh!" because that is what this made for, right? First of all, the scent is aging beautifully. The carnation seems deeper and more mellow, and all the notes form this lovely soft cloud of scent that makes me feel beautiful, but in a very grounded, calm, everything is OK kind of way (instead of wired, anticipatory, etc). And as always, when Mara crafts with intent, look out, because magic! I could feel my nerves settling as soon as I put it on, and my meeting went very well. Somehow things slowed down enough so that better listening could take place, and I left feeling that major restoration had taken place. This one is a treasure, NuTrix! Thanks so much for coming up with the concept. I am seriously considering a back-up bottle since there are still a few on Artfire... I am happy with my decision to get this boosted with Perfect Match, but I have a feeling it would probably be quite powerful just on its own.

It is pretty great! For me it's in the "barely there" category shortly after application, but I got really nice reactions from others all day! Also, midday I added Un Cuddle Bunny and respritzed The Melon Patch and that was a winning combo!

Awesome ladies!! Thank you all! Jeez, NuTrix, REALLY? I never would have guessed!!

NuTrix (and anyone else who is willing to share!), what scents do you like best with it? I have it in Marsha Mellow, which I adore. I plan to get Flutterby, and I'm trying to decide if I should just go for the Un as well.

So I finally took the plunge and got this, and it is wonderful! Very soft and subtle -- the melon and raspberry are tart and subtle, and the marshmallow just softens the whole thing and adds that light textured airy quality without being in any way sweet or candied. The birch leaves make the musk feel very fresh and green. This is a perfect summer scent, and it's so subtle that I think you could get away with wearing it in any setting -- it's just a wispy delicate hint of fragrance that rides close to the skin and emits fresh natural gorgeousness. The name is perfect by the way -- in another thread, StacyK mentioned Mara's ability to capture/evoke a particular season/landscape/sense memory, and this one makes me think of a garden in very early morning at the height of summer, when it's still cool and still and quiet, with patches of mist that will be burned off by the sun as soon as the day gets underway. Just lovely! ETA: If you are a fan of Terra Mater, you will probably love this! ETA: I just got back from lunch at a friend's house -- when she saw me standing on the doorstep, she exclaimed, "You look wonderful!" And then, when she hugged me, she inhaled deeply and said, "Oh, wow, you smell wonderful too!" I'd had this on for over three hours by the time she smelled me, so it has good staying power!

OK, latest H&S update: I got a spray bottle boosted with this. I went a little nuts with the scent today, several sprays to throat and chest and hair and arms. I had a relatively quiet morning, then went in for a meeting with interns this afternoon. We were supposed to meet for an hour and half and it ended up being two hours. And then... they just didn't want to leave. They all stood around with their backpacks on, gazing at me packing up my laptop and asking question after question.... it was like I was the college student whisperer. I had completely forgotten about the phero, and drove home wondering just WTF was up with that? and then I remembered: Heart and Soul. Wow, this is good stuff! PS. Before the meeting I took a twenty minute power nap and my big cat chuffed and snuffled the back of my neck the entire time. So also the kitty whisperer phero!

Hmm, very interesting! Wet, this is almost medicinal on me, and the black raspberry veers dangerously close to cough syrup territory. Once it dries down, though, it's a tremendously dense, zingy rich sweet dark scent. Like a flourless chocolate cake with raspberry and lime and espresso beans. I don't think it's a "me" scent but I am really enjoying the sample.

This was a dream on me -- soft, floaty, floral but not too. This one makes me feel like I should be wearing a white cotton nightgown, sitting on the porch swing and drinking ice tea, chatting with the boy next door in 1933. It reminds very much of LP White, which I adore, but LP White always strikes me as deliciously cool while this is a warmer vibe... maybe the ginger? And so perfectly congruent with the phero! The only question: spray or oil? OR DO I NEED BOTH?!

Dear Mara, dear Halo, dear every hardworking amazing person at LP, thank you SO much for making this such an incredible customer experience! You guys are beyond the best. New bags are delicious, new potions are intoxicating, and the whole process of participating in this community is one I would not miss for the world.