Black Cat

I'm hot on the trail of a new coconut scent for next summer, so I thought I'd try this, though I was hesitant about the banana. As it turns out, I like banana much more than I thought I would. Unfortunately, I don't get the coconut at all in this one! It starts out banana and vanilla and settles down to banana and vanilla, but heavier on the banana. So no full bottle for me on this one, but it does confirm my decision to sample everything from here on out, at least until I have a broader experience to really know for sure that a particular note /scent won't work for me.

I have a bottle of LP Black sitting on the shelf in my closet, waiting for the temperature to drop further to try out again! Is LP Original available anywhere other than trade threads right now? I checked and could not find in the Perfumerie... I absolutely adore Vetiver, so that one sounds so perfect! And Pot of Gold is fabulous--in the bottle! I tried it a few times and my skin just erases it within seconds. Which made me sad, because it really is an ideal vanilla. I just loved that creamy lemon cake smell, but could not keep it me. Ah, well. We will continue onwards in the quest! At some point I will have to get organized to have a trade thread, since I have collected a few bottles that I probably won't be using. One frontier at a time, though! Oh, cyber-hugging after bonding over good smells feels very safe and appropriate! I am totally sending one back, I just can't find the cute little huggie guys. Let me offer you instead this cute purring kitten which has nothing to do with hugging, but hey, it's a cute purring kitten. That's interesting stuff about the cops. I have had great self-effects with them in OCCO SLF, but I seem to react quite differently to the vanilla covers. But it's good to be reminded that what I'm getting isn't necessarily what others are getting. And now I need to get ready for work... though I'd much rather spend the day stalking the New Releases and chatting with the cool people!

Oooh, this one is lovely! It's very subtle--I wanted to try it for the earth note, which I can't really pick out, but the whole thing has, as other people have commented, a very ethereal wafty quality. It evokes the element of air much more than earth for me. This is the first pumpkin scent I've tried that has not been foodie pumpkin pie--which I love, don't get me wrong, but it's very interesting to get a different kind of pumpkin. It has a sweetness to it I really like, but once again, not a foodie sweetness (and definitely not sugary, which can go wrong on me). It stays very close to my skin, and I find I have to sniff my arm to really get the scent, but that makes it a perfect work scent for me. I know it's there, I can have private little scent moments all day, since it lasts and lasts. And while I expect people might be picking up on it, I don't have to worry about overwhelming others, particularly those with sensitive noses. A real winner!

I tried Ail's Voluptuous Vanilla and got kind of overwhelmed by the sugary-ness, but I will try it again. LP Original I have NOT tried, will definitely add a sample to the ever-growing list! I happened to be online last night when the August Private Editions were announced--after my whole "I don't buy bottles unsniffed anymore" I found myself jumping on board for a couple, including Cinnamon Vanilla Musk. Can't WAIT for that one! And I'm thinking that since I've already started my next order, maybe I'll go ahead and jump back on the sale thread for a few more things. I will not be able to spend anything for quite some time after this, but I will be so well-stocked!

Woo-hoo, these look gorgeous! If available, could I get one each of Lina's Autumn Leaves and Cinnamon Vanilla Musk?

I will definitely try a sample--the pink sugars made me a little nervous, since I am getting the sense that sugars don't always work on me. But your description made me hungry! You know, I tried Eye of the Storm a while back and sadly I think I was allergic to something in it! Maybe I'll try it and see if things have settled down. Like Fleur, I love the way you bring songs into it--since I am always fantasizing the soundtrack of my life... Hey, Fleur, I'm loving your reviews too! Really fun to have another newbie to get in the game with! You know, I am not having a lot of luck so far with my great vanilla experiment--but the two I just tried both had cops in them (Occo White and Beth's Blushing Milkmaid). I am wondering if maybe I just can't wear cops--even after drydown, I got something sour with BOTH of them. I will definitely write up, but when something doesn't go well, I like to give it at least a second try before writing anything. But it's kind of weird! I am wondering if NoCo White might be a different story, but it looks as if you can't get samples of those, just full bottles? Have you tried that one? Today's discovery, which I need to write up, is Marsha Mellow. Oh, WOW! I put some on at about 7:30 this morning and it's still there... it's so soft and subtle, as everyone else has said, but incredible staying power! Not too sweet, just quiet elegant comfort. Now if we could just get those New Releases to try....

As always, overwhelmed by the generosity of spirit here at LP! I've loved postings/reviews from everyone here--Cheeseburger. I loved your review of Haunted Hallows too, and the fact that we both responded so strongly to that scent has me stalking your other reviews to see what else I might need to try. I'm thinking maybe Unreasonable Pumpkin needs a closer look-- And Rose--you and me both on wanting the little baby vampire kitty. Though my current black cat familiar is so close to this in spirit I'm not sure I could handle anything more!

Oh, wow. This is dark, rich, and CREAMY. It's the first creamy dark scent I've found. I'm not getting the patchouli as a dominant note in this one--I think I can pick out the nutmeg and vanilla, perhaps a hint of pumpkin, but otherwise, as others have said, this is complex and very much its own thing. There is a softness to the darkness--it's a cloudy sky with a sliver of moon, rather than crystalline moonless sky. Weirdly, I get a more wintery than autumnal vibe with this one (I might be getting the slightest eggnog hit off the nutmeg!). This makes me think of the winter solstice, when things look darker than ever but the wheel of the year is tipping towards the light (that creamy streak I was talking about! I think my brain translates "cream" into "light"!). I think I might need a full bottle of this! although I need to see how it wears over the long stretch. Something is feeling just the tiniest bit head-achey....

Oooh, both good and dangerous to know! Thanks!

Yep, that's totally what I meant! Thanks so much for the advice, also about asking questions on review threads. I love your reviews, BTW! And hi, Eggers--love your reviews too!

Thanks again to you all! It's so cool starting to put the usernames with a whole string of reviews (somehow when you're participating in the discussion you get a much better sense of who people are than when you're just lurking!). So--my first ginormous sale order is here! I'm working my way through--some misses with the full bottles I grabbed because I really wanted to try them before they were gone, but some tremendous hits. So here's a question: I am going to order again in September, (am hoping that two good sized orders a month apart will be allowed!). There are things on the sale list that look really appealing that I haven't tried yet... but I'm pretty sure after this round they won't be available any longer. What do you guys think? Does the joy of finding something you love outweigh the angst of realizing you can't get it again? Also--in some cases there are things which interest me because they look similar to other almost-extinct items I've fallen in love with. I've been anxiously reading all the rules for posting, and want to make sure I don't screw up by taking threads off-topic, etc, or looking like I'm trying to boost my post count without adding useful content. Is it OK to jump on a review thread and ask how something compares? For example--I'm in love with Santa's Little Helper. Glitter Kissed looks similar--would it be OK to ask on the Glitter Kissed review thread how they compare, or is there a better place to post that kind of question? Thanks again for ALL the help. LP rocks!

Interesting! I get no coconut in this one--it's the same limeaid with a touch of cherry right out of the bottle that some other people have mentioned, but then it goes very powdery on my skin almost immediately. It gets sweet, but it's an artificial sweetness, like Smarties candy. I am a little sad, because I loved the description and story line with this one, not to mention the gold leaf! And the way other people have experienced it sounds delicious--I'm looking for some more tropical summer scents for next year. But apparently my skin chemistry doesn't go well with this one. I am wondering if fermented alcohol is maybe something for me to avoid--I had trouble with Pot of Gold, too, and that's a note they have in common. I think from here on out I am just going to get the monthly sampler so I can try everything in a timely fashion! On the one hand, I am learning that some things seem consistently not to work for me (chocolate, maybe this fermented alcohol thing). On the other hand, free sniffies of things I would never have tried because I assumed they couldn't work for me have been great. So as soon as September rolls around, I'm getting a full set of whatever the August NRs turn out to be! And--I will also get this out in a few weeks and try again. I've heard enough stories about things settling into something wonderful to know that I should try a few times before completely deciding against something. If I get a different experience, I'll report back.

The reviews on this one tipped me to try it, even though, as I was ordering, I thought, "Why on earth would you want to smell like pie? OK, you never thought you would want to smell like cookies, but still--pie?! What is up here?" Well, I'm so glad I did! I don't know how you get pie in a bottle, but this succeeds wonderfully. When I first opened the bottle, all I got was nuts, and a kind of chemical nuttiness at that, sort of headache-inducing. But (remembering the reviews) I plunged ahead, and, as soon as I put it on, nuts turned into fantastic pie crust, all flour-y and sugar-y and everything that is my favorite part of eating actual pie. Then right behind that, the fruit showed up. Mostly the rhubarb, which is wonderfully tart (or maybe that's the persimmon? I don't have the most gifted nose). SOMETHING is sparkly and sweet and biting all at the same time. The whole thing smells like late summer/early autumn, and I can't get enough of it. This doesn't have the feel of something I would want to wear every day, but it does have the feel of something that is going to be exactly perfect at very specific times. And that mood elevating thing people have mentioned, I'm definitely getting that. This is comforting but also uplifting, which is kind of a rare combination for me--usually things are one or the other, but not both. This is definitely someone patting you on the arm and saying, "There, there..." but instead of tucking you into bed with a cup of tea, you get sent out to go to work, get your grocery shopping done, come home and tidy up and cook dinner and THEN get tucked into bed.

Well, I've tried this one twice, and so far it just doesn't work with my skin. In the bottle, I get gorgeous creamy lemon cake, with a hint of coconut flakes in the frosting. To die for. Then I put it on, and wet on my skin I get a quite sour lemon smell--maybe the fermented alcohol? Which isn't bad, but then--within moments, the whole thing just disappears! All the smells gone. I did have, the first time I wore, a soft whiff of delicious vanilla some stretch of time later (since I had stopped thinking of myself as wearing perfume, I actually did a slight double-take and thought, what is that teasingly faint, beautiful smell--and realized it was me!) but sadly, it disappeared again. The second time I put it on I slathered with at least twice as much, hoping for better results with more volume, but it still disappeared within a couple of minutes. I'll definitely take this out and give some more trials, in hopes that either the perfume needs more time to settle after being shipped, or in hopes that my skin chemistry will adjust. The scent itself is gorgeous, and exactly what I was hoping it would be.

Ordered a full bottle of this unsniffed, which is always risky, but I'm so glad I did! It's exactly what I was hoping for--spicy cookie goodness. The ginger really pops for me, but all the other notes fall into place and as I happily huff my forearm (I *slathered* this baby on this morning!) I really feel like I can pick out clove, allspice, cinnamon... maybe the pumpkin is too subtle for me, but everything else is right there! Actually, what it reminds me of: every year, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, our local bakery does little loaves of gingerbread that are to die for. Like this scent, the perfect balance of spicy and sweet, with a texture so rich and chewy that it's not cookie, it's not cake, it's just.... magical wonderfulness. This smells like I'm wearing that. Because of the name and the delightful label, I was automatically thinking of this as a winter scent, but it's actually going to be perfect for fall. It's spicy and warming and sweet without being overly so. Perfect for the gorgeous cool clear temps we have around here right now, and it makes me feel happy to see shadows sharpen and lengthen as autumn comes in. Yum, yum, yum!

Oh, I'd definitely try if the idea of vanilla creaminess appeals, since it certainly seems to do that much more for others! I also am, ahem, at that stage of the month where hormones might be wreaking havoc, so I'll definitely give this some more try outs. The smell in the bottle is quite wonderful. Also, interestingly, the person I had dinner with tonight didn't think it smelled too sugary on me at all, and really liked it. I'll be interested to see if Lick of Cream is too sweet for me too, or if the other foodie notes make it more palatable to my nose than pure sugar. It's like being my own private science experiment! So much fun. Now you've got me eager to try Beth's Blushing Milkmaid--sample is sitting upstairs! We'll see if I can get this one thoroughly rinsed off and make a fair test.

OK, very interesting! I ordered this as part of my quest to find the perfect vanilla scent for me--will also be trying OCCO White, Beth's Blushing Milkmaid and Lick of Cream. This is the first one I've tried, and I'm thinking it's not going to be The One. I get the vanilla, but the sugar is pretty dominant. In the bottle, it smelled like vanilla ice cream; on my skin, more of a cotton candy. I'll have to sit with it a bit to see if it settles; as it is, I'll probably want to layer with something else to soften the sweetness and undercut the candied aspect. Let me hasten to add that I don't dislike it; it's just so interesting to start to figure out which note is doing what for me. I was surprised to learn (via LP Red) how much I like vanilla. And now it's interesting to learn that while I like the sweetness of it, it can be a little bit too sweet for me. Onwards!

Oh, ADORABLE!!!! The scent sounds deliciously yummy, too! Oh, dear, I thought my sale order meant I wouldn't be buying much, if anything, in September, but--sampler of this for sure!

I wore this last night to a social/professional event that was... kind of challenging. I had to see some people I've had some difficulties with recently, and also a former boss, whom I had left on pretty good terms, but with whom things still have felt a little tricky. I remembered how quietly confident this had made me feel before, and I decided to go for it. I put a smallish amount of OCCO SLF on my belly and smudged down (since I was less interested in turning heads than in boosting my own self esteem). I had a hint of scent on my wrists that faded pretty quickly. I went to the event and things were cheerful and civil with the folks I had been feeling a bit estranged from. I ended up in a long, very comfortable and friendly talk with my former boss, who was much more open and informal than we've ever been (also saw some other friends for the first time in months and got compliments on how good I was looking). Whether they were influenced by the OCCO or whether the self effects changed my affect enough to carry off the interactions successfully, who knows? Outcome: dreaded evening really not too bad. Full bottle in September order. PS. Fleur, I love your description! Very evocative, especially the bit about humidity.

I'm trying to work my way through reviews of anything I have that's on the sale list (my package is out for delivery as we speak so in just a few hours there will be plenty to work with!) And those cats are FABULOUS. And NuTrix--exactly!

I got a sample of this in my last order; I love the samples because I wouldn't have thought to try something fruity. I put this on, and it had a wonderful super-sophisticated fruit punch smell--if I were attending a lawn party in Newport, wearing a white cotton skirt and a silk tank top, and a gorgeous bartender handed me a crystal glass full of red/orange juice with bits of fruit floating in it and a long bendy straw and told me I was drinking something called "Summer in a Bowl", this is what it would smell like. Definitely a mood booster, as people have said. Unfortunately, my skin didn't like something in it--within a minute or so, the scent got kind of plasticky on me, and though that eased off a bit after maybe half an hour, the initial blast of pure fruit sweetness did not return. I will try it again when I am not in the PMS zone, in case the reaction was caused by hormones and isn't just a regular thing. I am glad to have tried this, because it's always great to have my taste broadened. I love the variety of summer scents I'm starting to collect--the coconutty, the honeyed, and now the fruity!

I have I Scream for Halloween coming! I forgot! (hugs self happily) I'll have to check out Get Happy, I don't remember reading a description of that one! Thanks, StacyK!

Actually, I'd say that's an AWESOME description, and gives me a very good sense of it! Many thanks! Fall is my favorite season, and Halloween is my favorite holiday, so I guess that's a yes, if supplies last...

Ooh, I haven't yet, but it's on my list for September, if supplies last! How would you characterize it? Is it more foodie or more earthy? (both are good, I'm just curious). Also, what are your thoughts on w/Lumina vs virgin?

I've tried OCCO SLF several times now, trying to sort out my feelings about it, and apparently I just have a somewhat ambivalent reaction. I LOVED the description of this, and I am always drawn to the honey, amber musk combo. When I put this on, I do get a hint of the cherry smell others have mentioned--a very sour cherry on me. It is not a pleasant scent. It is not what I think of as a musky scent, or a honeyed scent, or an ambered scent. My nose registers it as sharp and sour and something to draw back from. That being said--I find the scent COMPELLING. I can't stop sniffing, even though each time my nose prickles and I kind of draw back. But then I'm immediately pressing nose to elbow crook again. The scent does not register with my conscious brain as sexy. And yet--I find the self effects hitting immediately. Not in a I-want-to-f**k-everything-not-nailed-down way. More in a dreamy, languid, I just want to lie around and revel in the sensuousness of being in this body. I feel confident but not charged up. Just very, very quietly pleased with myself. I wore this in public for the first time yesterday. I have a friend who is an art photographer who occasionally uses me as a model, and yesterday was our first time doing a nude--outdoors, no less! I was scrambling through my LP collection, wishing my sale package had already arrived, trying to find the perfect scent to match the mood of what we were doing. And this was the only possibility that came to mind. About halfway through the drive, she commented on how good I smelled and, as we talked, said she really needed to get back to wearing perfume! And I have to say--when it came time to take off my clothes and stand naked in somebody's garden, listening to traffic whizz by on the road just beyond the stand of trees, I felt perfectly comfortable and relaxed. No worries about the camera, either! I just did the poses, and reveled in feeling the grass pressed beneath me, the breeze moving over me. All of which leads me to conclude--even though I am in not in love with the way this smells, I am going to want a full bottle. Too useful a tool to pass up!