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BPAL Madness!

ClareN

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About ClareN

  • Rank
    Dr. Girlfriend
  • Birthday March 14

Location

  • Location
    Melbourne, Australia
  • Country
    Australia

Profile Information

  • Pronouns
    Female

BPAL

  • Favorite Scents
    Favorite perfumes: The Illustrated Woman, Mme Moriarty, Bakeneko, Snake Oil, Dorian, Schwarzer Mond, Tombstone, Shub-Niggurath, Death Adder, Temple Viper, Pulcinella & Teresina, Vixen, Hod, Pink Moon 2007, Hunter Moon 2007, Whitechapel Favorite notes: PATCHOULI, VANILLA, MUSK, amber, tea, red musk, amber, vanilla, tobacco, smoke, carnation, cloves, dry leaves/dry grass, benzoin, opoponax, cardamom, tonka bean, myrrh, beeswax, vetiver (in moderation), leather, rose, violet, coconut, geranium, cedar, bergamot. Plus miscellaneous musks, spices, resins, woods, and incenses. Unfavorite notes: dragon's blood, baby powder, cherry, tuberose, lily, jasmine, gardenia, magnolia, most BPAL florals, most fruits, most aquatics (rare exceptions), overly sweet or "bakery" foodies, anything that reminds me of air freshener or potpourri. Could go either way (I love these in other perfumes and in real life but they don't always work for me in BPAL): almond, honey, frankincense, civet, orange blossom, muguet, honeysuckle, mimosa, lilac, cinnamon (love it, but it tends to burn my skin), eucalyptus, mint, most citrus, pine, cypress, juniper.

Astrology

  • Chinese Zodiac Sign
    Rat
  • Western Zodiac Sign
    Pisces

Recent Profile Visitors

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  1. ClareN

    Diable en Boîte

    On me, this is lots of peach, over a sweet-woodsy backdrop of redwood, hemp, red musk and tobacco. I thought I detected a hint of clove in the topnotes, but it vanished pretty quickly. If you miss March Hare, the peach blossom note in this smells exactly like March Hare's apricot to me, though unfortunately there is barely any clove here. It reminds me of Depraved, too. The note is decidedly more peach fruit than peach blossom. I love peaches, but I'm not a fan of smelling like peaches; there's something just fake enough about this note to make me think of peach-flavored candy, and I can't get rid of the "cheap artificial flavoring" association. I should've known better, since I always have this reaction to fruity scents. Fruit notes often overpower everything else to my nose. If you don't mind fruit, you may not find it as prominent as I do. After a few hours, the hemp-tobacco thing gets stronger and it's quite a pleasant hippie-ish sweet smoke scent. It's definitely at least a 3/5. I try not to hang on to scents I don't love, though, and this is still too much peach for me, especially in the opening stages.
  2. ClareN

    Virginia

    From the reviews, this seems to be a love-it-or-hate-it scent, so I was curious what it'd do on me. Lots of musk (grapey red musk as in Smut), caramel, a little tobacco, a little frankincense...and something weird, deep, and off-putting. Several reviewers have picked up on this scent's strangeness, and I think it's caused by the combination of muguet, tobacco and juniper (who besides BPAL would ever put those notes together? ), along with some sage and orchid in supporting roles. I can see why some are calling it a baby wipes/baby powder note, though if you sniffed it next to baby powder, I think you'd find Virginia much more complex and dark. Personally, it reminds me of a combination of cocoa and vinegar, like uncooked six-minute chocolate cake batter. The off-putting top note fades completely in the drydown, and it's not unpleasant at this stage: all red musk, tobacco and caramel. But it's too similar to other red musk scents for me to wear. If you like red musk and Indian musk, good news: those notes are very prominent. It's the other stuff that will make or break the scent for you. Worth a try if the Big Red Musk scent category is one you enjoy. Try if you like: Smut, Marianne, Bien Loin d'Ici, Urd, Scherezade
  3. ClareN

    Allergy Questions, Allergies and other reactions to oils

    I don't think they ever answer this type of question, unfortunately. My guess would be no, since as far as I can tell from some cursory Googling, there is no extract of pomegranate that smells like pomegranate for use in perfumery (pomegranate seed oil is faintly-scented and used as a carrier oil or antioxidant). So the pomegranate in Mme Moriarty is probably an accord, but there's no way to tell for sure. You're the best judge of whether it's worth the risk. If I had a severe allergy I wouldn't go near it, but if I had an allergy that was not anaphylactic or otherwise life-threatening, I'd get a decant and risk it. (Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor and this isn't medical advice )
  4. ClareN

    Looking for a BPAL that Resembles a Favorite Perfume

    So if anyone's been looking for a BPAL equivalent to Le Labo's outrageously expensive Labdanum 18, go directly to Haunted.
  5. ClareN

    Allergy Questions, Allergies and other reactions to oils

    I've given up on cinnamon blends, especially after I started to associate the smell itself with the itching, burning sensation - even sniffing it in the bottle makes me uncomfortable The only one I persist with is Chimera, since the cinnamon is light (despite the description calling it "fiery", haha) and well-blended with creamy honeysuckle and myrrh, but I still don't risk it on skin - I wear it in my hair (apply to back of wrist; brush wrist through hair; wash wrist). It smells gorgeous in hair: I get wafts of it all day long, and it lasts at least 24 hours (basically until I shower).
  6. ClareN

    Hunter Moon 2007

    Aged 6 years, Hunter Moon 2007 is a lovely, radiant, sweet musk. The musk doesn't really resemble the common BPAL red musk or black musk notes; I think of it as a dark pink musk, and that colour association is so strong that I'm always surprised when I put it on and see that the oil is clear. The scent reminds me of that powdery pink musk candy, except somehow sexy instead of gross (I hate those candies, but Hunter Moon is fantastic). It's just the slightest bit animalistic--furry, not civety. I get no wine or bonfires, but there is a suggestion of dry dead leaves. I think it used to be a little "wilder" when it was fresh, but now it's all pink creamy sweetness. This doesn't evoke hunters and woods to me; it's much sweeter and more innocent. The image I get is of a teenage girl in a pink dress, wearing some sweet, girly perfume and playing with a wolf pup in a clearing full of fallen leaves. Hunter Moon is great, and it's like virtually nothing else in BPAL's catalogue. I'll never understand why it isn't a lot more popular. I hope it comes back someday so I can get a fresh bottle.
  7. ClareN

    Looking for a BPAL that Resembles a Favorite Perfume

    I am a huge BPAL fan, but I don't care for the way they do white florals...When I was a newbie I kept trying jasmine after jasmine scent before realising that jasmine was the note I hated in all of them. So I may not be the right person to answer this, but the prettiest light white floral BPAL I've tried is Pele. Voyage sounds like it could be similar to BPAL Absinthe - wormwood essence, light mints, cardamom, anise, hyssop, and the barest hint of lemon. They don't use cardamom often enough for me, as it's one of my favourite notes, and when they do it's usually in heavy/musky scents rather than light ones.
  8. ClareN

    Rogue

    I really wanted to like Rogue, but the first time I tried it (months ago), I found it so off-putting that the imp almost went straight into the swap box. I can't remember what I smelled in it back then, but I'm glad I retested it, because it's very good now. The rosin and hemp is reading as a beautiful foresty-green herbal-wood-leafy scent to me. Light green leaves over leather. It's very much like a paler, less sinister version of Luperci, which is my all-time favourite green/forest scent. It also resembles Theodosius minus the Earl Grey and Dorian elements, and the fir/cedar from Doc Constantine. The topnotes are lovely and addictive. The drydown, while still pleasant, is a flat, dustier version of the same. I wish it had a stronger basenote to keep things interesting throughout its lifespan, but perhaps that's why the RPG scents are meant to be layered. Overall, I think I'll reach for Luperci or Theodosius when I want this type of scent, so I'll pass on my imp to a gamer friend who always plays rogues. If you like leathers, though, Rogue is a good GC to add to your collection. If you like this, try: Luperci, Theodosius the Legerdemain, Doc Constantine, Brom Bones, Dee, Antony
  9. ClareN

    Spanked Revisited

    Add me to the list of those who get nothing but cinnamon or cassia from this scent. My skin's turning red where I applied it, which confirms the presence of cinnamon (I don't have this reaction to other spices, including cardamom). I love cardamom, leather, bourbon, and patchouli, and was hoping to smell those, but this is all cinnamon - sharp, non-foody cinnamon, like chewing on cinnamon sticks. As it dries down, I get more creamy leather and patchouli coming out, but it's still faint under the cinnamon, or maybe that's just wishful thinking. Don't get it at all, but I'm curious to try the aged version and see how it differs. If you like this, try: Plunder, Bengal, Saw-Scaled Viper, Chimera
  10. ClareN

    Halfling

    This is very much like a lighter version of Eat Me. Berry oatmeal with cinnamon, apples, milk and honey. I'm sure there's no actual cinnamon here, because my wrist isn't turning red, but something is giving a cinnamon-spice-like impression. Others have mentioned Christmas candles, and I have to agree; not necessarily a bad thing, though, if you like Christmas spices and apple cider and similar scents. Straight-up foodie scents almost never grab me, and Halfling is no exception. But for those of you who love to smell like a cookie, you'll want to try this. If you like this, try: Eat Me, Huesos de Santo, any Beaver Moon, Fearful Pleasure, Lambs-Wool, Gunpowder
  11. ClareN

    The Robotic Scarab

    Spicy leather and sweet incense with faint anise, rounded off with smooth metallic notes. The opening is a little harsh, but after it settles down it continues to develop in interesting ways for the next 15-20 minutes. Very nice. After that, sadly, it goes a bit stale and "off" with my skin chemistry - metallic notes and I rarely get along. Reminds me of the "soft, masculine leather/oakmoss" genre of BPAL, including scents like Dee, Casanova and Saint-Germain. One to try for anyone looking for a complex leather blend.
  12. ClareN

    Veritas

    My imp of Veritas is now aged about 9 months, and it's beautiful. I get mostly chamomile, carnation, and frankincense. I'm not entirely sure what heliotrope or angelica smell like, but I'll assume they're responsible for the other sweet non-powdery yellow floral notes in the background. The carnation reminds me a lot of Maiden, one of the prettiest BPAL florals, but Maiden turns flat on me in the drydown, while this is staying nice. The chamomile is sweet, and the carnation and frankincense combine to create a spicy-incense effect. It's like drinking honeyed chamomile tea in an old wooden temple. Lovely. Try if you like: Maiden, Morocco, Libertine, Ephemera, floral-incense or floral-wood scents in general
  13. ClareN

    Iris and Orris scents

    I didn't care much for Black Pearl or Nefertiti, and most fruits and black musk don't cooperate with me, which rules out several of the suggestions here. LOVE King Cobra, but I'd like something with even more orris/iris. Are there any other iris-dominant scents, GC or LE?
  14. ClareN

    EPIC BPAL Spreadsheet Thread

    Anyone have a more recent version? Looking for Pickman Gallery and this year's Lupercalias
  15. ClareN

    Searching for the Perfect Vanilla?

    Try Chimera! Vanilla isn't a listed note, but it reads as vanilla to me alongside cinnamon and honeysuckle.
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