- these are available until Jun4, so I have time to ponder or get testers, but I'm not sure I'll get a tester-set; I'm only really interested in 4/10, and vaguely curious about a couple others.

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A Grievous Swarm
- Black pepper and vetiver with cardamom, blackened vanilla, and tobacco absolute.

A Very Grievous Murraine
-Brown musk, myrrh, and sun-baked leather afflicted by splotches of saffron and red musk.

About Midnight
-Judgement rendered: vanillic sandalwood, holy balsam, cedar, and frankincense.

All the Dust of the Land
-An infestation of Ceylon cinnamon bark, black patchouli, tonka absolute, bitter almond, and frankincense.

L'ESSENCE DU CHAGRIN
White chypre, French Lavender, rose geranium, opopponox, Peru balsam, bois de rose, lime & vanilla absolute.

White scents, especially florals, aren't my thing, but I love me some chypre, and lavender, so I had to try this one. The lavender is dominant, as expected, but there's a sense of spice there along with the expected powder. The lime is drifts in and out; it works unexpectedly well with the sharp lavender. It definitely hits that 'dapper gentlemen' note that chypre/lavender blends often evoke but there's a resinous undertone that grounds and rounds and the drydown is gorgeous - if this sort of scent is your cuppa tea. I can totally see how many would consider it overdone and soapy (which I often get from white scents) but this one works for me.

 BIWA...  tangerine, black currant, white musk, honey and tagetes. 

This starts off with delicate, zesty tangerine with a hint of musk and honey. The marigold note is light and adds a floral complexity to the blend. The honey powders upon drydown, and with the musk creates a long-lingering loveliness that I wasn't expecting. I barely pick up the black currant at all, except perhaps as a hint of sharpness in the blend, but that could be the marigold's doing, too; I'm uncertain. I probably won't get a bottle of this, but I"ll certainly enjoy the decant when I want a delicate bright citrus blend that isn't predominantly lemon.


And I'll mention here a blend of great fail on me, one that doesn't get SotD status 'cause I had to wash it off almost immediately.

BURNING VULVA.... vanilla infused amber, leather, beeswax, cyclamen, oakmoss, peru balsam, orange blossom, red ginger, tonka, opoponax, myrrh and black pepper.

So many notes that I love in this one. So many. And yet this scent is a complete disaster on me. In the vial, it's fiery ginger and orange blossom and leather with hints of pepper and oakmoss and resins. For a brief glorious moment wet on my skin, its a spicy conflagration and the beeswax and vanilla open into luxurious creamy goodness. And then, POW! WHAM! sour plastic. If it was honey rather than beeswax in the blend, I'd suspect the same honey note that makes O such a disappointment, but I don't think I've had a scent turn so bad so fast on me since WAR which, surprise surprise, also has red ginger. Is this the villain? maybe (but I love VILF!).  So definitely not for me -- the decant might scent a nice candle, tho. 

THE RING... antiquated amber, frankincense, patchouli, hay, oakmoss, skin musk and white mint.  
This starts off smooth and mellow, with the amber and frankincense in soft, dusky accord, and just a faint hint of mint. The skin musk keeps this close as the moss and patchouli warm up and the hay is prominent but its all very well blended. I get a hint more mint on drydown but unfortunately the dreaded playdoh note develops, probably from the skin musk. I can see where this would be a lovely, dusty earth and soft incense scent on the right person, but sadly, not on me.


STANDING FEMALE NUDE... red rose and red currant with amber, blood orange, myrrh and golden musk. 
Red rose bursts out, juicy, bright and bold, with a faint dusting of amber. The fruits develop next, first the orange - a lovely blend with the rose - and a hint of sharper currant. The myrrh adds sweetness and grounds the mix (and I can only distinguish it as a separate note on late drydown; I love rose and myrrh together - they compliment each other so well). A lovely scent, but the currant adds a faint bitterness on my skin and as I have other rose scents I like just as much, or better, I can let this one go.


SLEEPING NYMPH AND SATYRS... wild woods, Bulgarian rose, tolu balsam, vanilla absolute, ambergris, honey & vanilla.
Honeyed woods (I suspect there's some teak in there) and rose, beautifully balanced with balsam added edge. The vanilla is distinct and yet adds overall creamy smoothness and the ambergris drifts and partners with the balsam in a lovely duet. This is one of those scents were I can pick up every note and yet nothing really outshines anything else. I like this more with every wearing - definitely bottle worthy.
    ETA sadly, I must revise this one -- there is something odd in the final drydown that I didn't catch before. Two more wear tests proved it not a fluke. I'll enjoy what's left of my decant in a locket, but this one is off the bottle list.


WRESTLERS... vetiver, guiac wood, peru of balsam, two musks, labdanum, saffron and rum accord.  
The rum and musks are prominent  at first, underlain with the saffron. The woods are rather light, and the vetiver takes its time but eventually beats down the musks. It's smooth and warm and faintly butterscotchy .... and then the rum (not unexpectedly) goes funky on my skin. woe! 


This is the last batch of my Lupercalia decants; time to do a final check on my favourites and put an order in before they come down on Monday. Thank goodness the Shunga scents are up until the end of April, as I'm still waiting on those decants and the Chocolate Box scents, too!  Tho those come down Monday as well, I ordered full decants of them, which I think will be enough since I have lots of foody chocolate scents already -- but I'll check the .org reviews anyway, just in case.

 And here's the last three of the Ode to Aphrodite scents:

KATASKOPIA... tuberose, mandarin, jonquil, black sandalwood, green musk, styrax, hyacinth and violet musk.
HEELLLLOOO tuberose!  This is a big floral, sharp and green. And oddly watery, which I wasn't expecting. The florals mellow and the mandarin begins to hold its own but the best part of this scent is woody resin base (the sandalwood is strong in this one, young jedi).  Too much floral and it goes powdery. Not for me. 

KYTHERIAN... black narcissus, purple orchid, neroli, white sandalwood, ambergris, plum musk, jonquil, thyme, oakmoss & grapefruit.
This is one of those scents I wanted to try just to see how everything worked together. The fruits are the most prominent when wet (and I include the plum musk in this), followed by the orchid. I don't really pick up the thyme or sandalwood. Fruit with attitude, and cold. Just the barest hint of oakmoss on drydown to start to warm it up. Strong throw, and overall a very 'purple' scent and something in here is putting the Soap in soapiness (daffodil, is that you?)

NIKEPHOROS... black currant, patchouli, blood orange, oakmoss, galbanum, benzoin and white mint.
Oakmoss and galbanum may be waltzing in the center of the dance floor but patchouli and blood orange are the prom royalty of this blend. Benzoin lurks near the band, white mint plays the wallflower. Black currant shows up late and spikes the punch. I thought this would be too fruity for me but it grows more earthy in the later dry down and I find myself sniffing my wrist over and over. Quite undecided about this one.

 THE RUSSIAN DANCE... florentine iris, black tea, labdanum, patchouli, champaca, benzoin and ambergris.  

Initially I was wary of this one because of the iris, but fortunately had a chance to test it thoroughly. As might be expected from the description, I find the iris note here quite similar to that in Florence - that orris note that I love. This opens as a light and faintly spicy floral mix of orris and creamy champaca that mellows quickly into a sweet, resiny incense blend. The tea note is distinct, more of a duet than a blend and the patchouli only comes though in the long drydown into a somber grey scent that lingers for hours. I look forward to seeing how this ages.

EBENEZER SCROOGE   ... neglected leather, oakmoss, tonka bean, black pepper, cumin and vetiver.  

This opens like I just walked into a leather shop, almost overpoweringly so. But that initial sharpness fades and the tonka plays sweet peacemaker between the pepper and cumin - all the notes are distinctly there, spicy, but playing nice. I don't get much of a sense of oakmoss, but that might be what's smoothing the edge of the leather, and the vetiver provides a nice ground note, neither overly smoky nor earthy and only a slight tang hinting of citrus. (I like vetiver is pretty much all its forms, but this one is particularly nice.)  Definitely a sense of dust and age and recluse to this scent - excellent for a pre-reform Scrooge. So glad I got a bottle of this.

ARS AMATORIA
- Hetairae
- Lolita
- Siren
- Spellbound

ARS DRACONIS
-Dragon’s Heart
-Dragon’s Reverie

BEWITCHING BREWS
-Morgause
-Sudha Segara
-Ultraviolet
-Velvet !
-Has No Hanna

DIABOLUS
-Kumiho

ILLYRIA
-Tamora


MARCHEN
- Egle
- Godfather Death
- Thy Godfather’s Present
- Bensiabel
- The Miller’s Daughter
- The White Rider
- The Red Rider
- The Black Rider
- The Chicken-legged Hut
- The Witch’s Repast
- Fire for thy Stepmother’s Daughter
- The Death Horse
- The Grave Pig
- The Old Goblin


MAD TEA PARTY
- Tweededee
- Brusque Violet
- How Doth the Little Crocodile
- ‘tis the Voice of the Lobster

WANDERLUST
- Ogygia
- Pais de la Canela

Calaveras: Clever little satirical poems in the style of epitaphs written to tease the living and ease grief over a loved one's passing. Xocolatl, tequila, copal incense, smoke-dried jalapeños, vanilla pods, and cajeta.

Oh, this is amazing; deep, dark bitter roasted chocolate nibs, with hints of smoke and spice. Not at all what I would consider traditionally "foody", even with the vanilla, which enhances rather than overwhelms. Hints of salted brown butter and sweet heat develop on drydown. I'm so glad I got a bottle; I may need another - I can't wait to see how this ages, and I suspect that if I don't buy a back-up, I won't ever know; I've worn this three days running and I'm no where near tired of it yet!


Nothing Gold Can Stay:

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

Dewy green leaves colored by Moroccan amber, ginseng, and rooibos.

Sweet, wet grass and leaves at first, very green and almost springlike. Then it mellows and the green fades away leaving me sipping cooling tea from a amber cup. Dry down is a light indeterminate floral, pretty, with a hint of yellowy ash. It reminds me of walking through yellow leaves after a rain on a cool day, you know when fallen leaves plaster themselves to the sidewalk and you have to be careful not to slip on them? Generally I'm not big on anything aquatic, but I quite like this.