Black Cat

Sad face on the Latte! In the vial this is everything I could want -- creamy caramel coffee, rich and dark and delicious. So far my stupid skin is turning it to muddy burnt paper. I will continue to try and see if it improves but right now it is being very bratty.

I am running out of available patches to test, but I have to report that wow, did Mara bring the yummy on this one! I still have trouble wrapping my head around foodie patchouli combos, but this one is so delectable I think I will need a bottle. This is bright, dense delicious lemon cake - it reminds of everything I love about Atomic Mandarin, but with lemon instead of orange, but so far it has considerably more throw and staying power. I want to gnaw my arm off!

I wasn't sure what to expect from this one, but it is really something! I am getting the leather and woods most strongly and it is a powerfully sexy combo. No maple so far on me, which is a plus. This reminds me quite a bit of Unseelie -- that wild fey hufffability factor! This may have definitively moved from the "I can probably live with my sample" to "I best order a full bottle and make sure I have it on my person at all times" list!

Sampler is here and this was the first to go on! This is GORGEOUS -- not fruity to my nose; I am not picking out the apricot or the fig. I am getting something very earthy and incensey, but not piercing or overpowering on me. It's complexly dark and subtle and wonderful, and I must possess several bottles of it. I think this will be a spectacular cold weather scent, but it also feels like a dark resin-y one that could work in summer. I am definitely getting the Allumette connection, but it also reminds me a bit of Totem: Bat -- a more grounded, warmer full-bodied vibe, but similarly dark and ethereal and sexy powerful queen-like. And having read the description I can't wait to experience this over the long drydown. This is already exotic beyond my wildest dreams!

Oh, yay, Ducky, I'm so glad it's working for you too! And that's the best emoticon I've seen yet! I keep meaning to add, Mara has posted the exact notes on Artfire, which make the yumminess even more clear: "French lavender over velvety notes of vanilla, white musk and powdered sugar. A touch of fluffy buttercream and a few drops of woodsmoke complete the dreamy snugly kitty picture." I'm pulling this one out tonight for sure.

And LPs are IN THE MAIL!!!! Yay! So looking forward to next week!

I dug out my sample of this the other night, as I wait for my Monster Order to arrive with my two bottles of Wolf... I just love this. It is at one and the same time fresh and earthy and somehow both very clean (the total opposite of any of the dirty honeys, for example) and kind of dirty (MUCH naughtier than Sneaky Clean or X Appeal, for example) at the same time. I don't know Mara does it, but she really captured the Wolf energy here! It's wild and powerful and free. It also has serious staying power on me -- when I woke up this morning, I could still smell traces on my skin. I have an oil bottle boosted with cops coming, and a spray with half a boost of Leather. I cannot wait! And for the record, I am pretty sure if I smelled this on a guy I would follow him home.

I'm not sure how I missed reviewing this one, since I ended up getting a full bottle! I love Lion. Wood notes don't always work for me, as they can drown out everything else, but this is so well-balanced/blended that they just provide a strong soft groundedness, while the vanilla and sandalwood are more prominent on me. This is rich and spicy and especially nice for those days when I am in very casual clothes and don't want to smell like I'm wearing perfume -- it's got a clean organic quality, like a really good soap. Like I was just going about my day, taking care of basic hygiene but otherwise not making much of an effort, and somehow I ended up smelling exotic and awesome.

Thanks for stepping in, QG, because I had NO IDEA!!

Great LP minds think alike!! Can't wait to compare notes!

Not that I wasn't already kicking myself for holding off on full bottle unsniffed! Oh, sampler, speed your way here!

IKR? It is SO congruent with Gotcha! for me. Disarmingly soft and then stealthy powerful. StacyK, you are the one who put Gotcha on my radar and I'm so grateful. It really is doing something different from any of the other pheros for me. Last time I wore it, I was in a meeting sitting in chairs set a fair distance apart across from somebody and by the last twenty minutes he was literally on the edge of his seat, leaning in towards me and listening with every ounce of his being. Yow, powerful indeed!

All of it, lovey!! ALL OF IT.

Gorgeous! I am so proud of you! :-)

No joke beyond whether you want cops as one element of the phero experience or as the whole deal, front and center and VERY LOUD. :-)

OlderButWiser -- I absolutely LOVE your avi!

OMG Nutrix you are killing me with these reviews... everything that I had on my "yeah, probably not going to need a FB of that one" is getting moved over to the "I will DIE if I don't possess this" list after reading your results, lady!

Oh, funny!! I got Velvet Kisses as a spray off the trade thread and therefore haven't thought twice about doing sprays of Cuddle Bunny-boosted scents! And yet when it comes to my cops-only scents, I always go for oil. I guess it depends on whether you are thinking of them as "cops" or "COPS"!

Ha, I'm just the opposite -- I have 2 LP White sprays, one boosted with Empathy, one unboosted, but I've been wishing I had it in oil as well (yes, I am a completist!). I'll have to wait too -- I've ordered so much stuff that I just need to sit tight and let it all get here, including the sampler with all the LP NR delectability that's coming!

Vladmyra, I've been meaning to revisit this one, thanks for reminding me!! It is almost worth it for the label alone -- Mara's labels are always amazing but I feel she outdid herself on this one! So. Siamese Cloud. There is no denying that (for me anyway) this one goes on very medicinal.... but as it has aged it morphs through that stage even faster for me, and the buttercream is starting to come out thicker and creamier. It goes from bright menthol to a soft clean skin musk with a lovely creamy texture. AND -- more importantly -- this has become my go-to sleep aid. I don't suffer from insomnia as a primary problem, so I can't speak to how it would work for that, but I do have a number of sleep issues right now related to severe stress. This has the most soothing properties. If I put it on when I get into bed, it quiets my nerves and I'm able to relax and unwind better, to be calm enough to turn off the TV and just read (instead of needing two sources of input to calm my brain down enough to stop thinking) and I generally fall asleep as soon as I turn out the lights (nights I don't pick this one I find myself doing more staring into the darkness thinking REALLY hard -- so not a good idea!). I sleep deeply, and I wake up feeling rested and refreshed. One of the things I've been doing since I have other scents I love to smell on myself at night is to spritz my pillow with Siamese Cloud so I at least have it working for me when my head hits the pillow. I'm going to have to order another spray because I'm really working my way through mine. All I can say is, be careful when you ask Mara to craft with intent because wow! She really works magic.

What an awesome story, CloneClubSestra! And welcome to the forum. And Vlad, I think you're really right that our personalities influence the way the phero works. In the same way that they can influence but not command others, it's not a one-size-fits all experience. Which is why experimenting is so crucial, as well as so much fun! BTW, I am now thinking I should get a sample of scented TMI, since the Sneaky Clean fans seem to love it!

Yes, this sounds very hopeful!! I find that fascinating, to flip the concepts, and it makes total sense now that I went full bottle right away on the Bittersweet, since I am a dark and dense lady when it comes to how I take my beverages... ... but this will be the first one I test out of the sampler, I can tell already!

Yes, confirming my earlier post on Dolly's Wet and Nasty! Also, could I add: Lina's White Velvet Rose Inna's Soft and Summery?

As a bookseller, that's my fav on so many levels! Sharing with co-workers -- many thanks!

Yeah, in my experience the cinnamon can dominate everything, and in some cases it can have a slightly metallic edge on me as a scent. As I said, LP Red is a total win for me, both because I can smell the other notes and because the cinnamon itself is soft and foodie. But I've experienced other LPs that I thought would be totally yummilicious based on the description (OK, let's face it, there isn't an LP that doesn't sound like something I want based on the description!) but on my skin the cinnamon both wipes out the other notes and gets kind of hard and sharp. So with this one -- if it didn't have the cinnamon, based on my experiences with all the other notes, I might have been reckless and have gone full bottle (in general I TRY to sample things first! But every once in a while there is something which sounds so likely to be a win that I just go for it!). But because there is a chance that for me, I'll put this on and instead of coffee/cream/amber/patch/vanilla I'll just get hard sharp cinnamon (while others are getting the aforementioned gorgeous blend) I'm going to play it safe with the sampler.