Apple

Hmmn... maybe you should tell us what kinds of scents you like out in the world, that you might like to smell on yourself? Not perfume smells, but things like fresh laundry or lemonade or baking brownies or incense or ripe berries or the ocean or a library or chai tea or leather or coconut or tobacco or roses or wet dirt... those kinds of smells. With BPAL you can control how strong a blend is by diluting it with a neutral carrier oil (e.g., jojoba oil) or alcohol. So, if we know what kinds of smells you like, we can direct you to blends that smell like that, and you can make them as light as you wish. For the record, blends in the general catalogue that have struck me as light/faint/delicate even at full strength include: 51 (Wanderlust) - Luminescent, glowing, and otherworldly: green mandarin, neroli, honeydew, white amber, guava, freesia, white and green musks hovering over desert scrub, smashed wood, and the dry, biting scent of night air over the Groom Lake salt flats. Amsterdam (Wanderlust) - Tulips, peony, fresh flowing water and crisp green grasses. The Apothecary (Illyria) - Tea leaf with three mosses, green grass, a medley of herbal notes, and a drop of ginger and fig Baneberry (Rappaccini's Garden) - A poisonous fruit-bearing member of the buttercup family. The scent, like the plant, is dark green, herbal, and plump with bulging black fruit. Bewitched (Bewitching Brews) - Deep, luscious green and berry scents that evoke images of woodland witchcraft and the raw power of nature: blackberry, sage, green tea, wild berries and dark musk. Black Hellebore (Rappaccini's Garden) - The scent is a pale green herbal, darkly rooty, with a faint rose and peony-like overtone. Black Pearl (Bewitching Brews) - Gentle and lovely, but menacing and profound. Coconut, Florentine iris, hazelnut and opalescent white musk. Cheshire Cat (Mad Tea Party) - Grapefruit, red currant, dark musk, Roman chamomile, delphinium, and lavender. Croquet (Mad Tea Party) - Pink lime, pink grapefruit, white nectarine, wild rose, sage, woody patchouli, bergamot, and ornery hedgehog musk. Dian's Bud (Rappaccini's Garden) - No scent desciption. This is a light, clean scent that brings to mind Dove soap. The Dormouse (Mad Tea Party) - A dizzying eddy of four teas brushed with light herbs and a breath of peony. The Hesperides (Bewitching Brews) - Their perfume is that of sturdy oak bark, dew-kissed leaves, twilight mist and crisp apple. The Lion (Mad Tea Party) - The dry, glorious warmth of the Savannah. A golden, spiced amber, proud, regal and ferocious. This one is neither floral nor citrusy. It is a warm, dry scent... but still very light. Lyonesse (Wanderlust) - Golden vanilla and gilded musk, stargazer lily, white sandalwood, grey amber, elemi, orris root, ambergris and sea moss. Mandrake (Rappaccini's Garden) - No scent description. A very faint cedar scent. Mouse's Long and Sad Tale (Mad Tea Party) - Vanilla, two ambers, sweet pea and white sandalwood. Olokun (Excolo) - His ofrenda is the scent of the lightless deep: the glorious, unknowable gloom of the ocean floor. The description sounds nasty, but actually it's a lovely light, clean, ocean-y scent. Prague (Wanderlust) - Crocus with snowdrop and three lilies. Rosalind (Illyria) - Dew-covered berries and fresh green grasses with a faint breath of spring flowers. Severin (Ars Amatoria) - Dry black teas, Earl Gray, and leather. Squirting Cucumber (Rappaccini's Garden) - A spurt of wet, grassy greenness. Sudha Segara (Bewitching Brews) - Sweet milk and warm, healing ginger with a touch of golden honey and our blend of Ambrosia. This one is a personal favorite. I find the ginger very clean and refreshing, but it's also a warm, comforting scent. Szepasszony (Diablous) - A chilly, tempestuous whirlwind of clear, airy notes, slashing rain, and a thin undercurrent of white flowers. Titania (Illyria) - A nocturnal bounty of fae dew-kissed petals and pale fruits: white grape, white peach, iced pear, musk rose, sweet pea, moonflower and snapdragon. Tushnamatay (Bewitching Brews) - Pure internal harmony and spiritual bliss: the perfected meditation blend. People seem to have very varied impressions of what this actually smells like, but the consensus seems to be a very light resin/incense. Twenty-One (Bewitching Brews) - This is the scent of the perfect martini. This is a refreshing gin/juniper scent. Undertow (Bewitching Brews) - Lotus and juniper with a hint of mint. The Unicorn (Mad Tea Party) - A misty, almost luminous perfume: wispy linden blossoms, white flowers, and a touch of sweet herbs.

Interesting combination! Have you tried Worm Moon (mold-crusted dirt, decomposing organic matter, coffin wood, drooping funeral flowers, congealed blood, gloomy lunar oils, cuckoo flower, and a gruesome burst of overripe red fruits)? It sounds like it would be right up your alley. Nosferatu (desiccated herbs and gritty earth brought to life with a swell of robust and sanguineous red wines) is also an earthy-tart blend you might like. Hymn to Proserpine layered with something earthy might work, too. Otherwise, you might consider layering a dirt scent (Graveyard Dirt, Badger, Death Cap) with an apple blend (The Hesperides, Verdani, Poisoned Apple) and a pomegranate blend (Swank, Dionysia, Persephone). Shango has both apple and pomegranate, but it also has a whole lotta other fruit. I'm not sure what it smells like, but it might be worth checking out.

I agree that Snake Oil smells head shoppy/nag champa-y, and anything with a lot of red musk should do the trick. My number one recommendation would be Czernobog, but you might also consider: Fenris Wolf Scherezade Sin I've not tried Urd, but it seems to be a favorite with nag champa-lovers. I see Tushnamatay recommended as a nag champa scent, but I didn't really notice it there. And a lot of people like Gaueko for nag champa, but I was pulling some other note out of there (lavender?) that just made it smell like Desitin diaper rash ointment.

I so wanted to love Hetairae, but the ylang-ylang just killed it for me. My skin does bad, bad things to flowers. Reading the notes in White Phoenix, I quickly realized I was out of my depth in terms of recommendations: I've never tried it, and I can't even begin to imagine what all those florals would smell like... but I'm betting it would be totally unwearable on me. So keep that in mind and take these recommendations with a few grains of salt: Hell's Belle (Diabolus) - Oleander with wet, sweet mandarin, lush magnolia, a rush of deep musk and a touch of spice. House of Night (Ars Moriendi) - A sorrowful graveyard bouquet of somber blooms, funereal boughs, dismal green and laden with grief. These both struck me as "humid" white florals with a sultry, almost creamy, quality. Could be seductive if you go more for florals than for resins or foody scents.

Bastet (luxuriant amber, warm Egyptian musk, fierce saffron and soft myrrh, almond, cardamom and golden lotus) is a gorgeously sexy scent that isn't really foody, but sort of borders on it. It's a sweet and spicy skin scent, warm and sensual and inviting. I can't say enough good things about it. Just make sure you let it dry thoroughly... it smells a little weird when wet (almost like Juicy Fruit gum, which is not at all how it smells when dry). Western Diamondback (Snake Oil with leather, tonka bean, red sandalwood, and sage) is another sexy, almost-foody scent. I think it's a little more overt and forward than Bastet due to the leather and its greater throw, but it's still a sweet, yummy skin scent. I didn't have any luck with straight-up Snake Oil (a blend of exotic Indonesian oils sugared with vanilla) or Boomslang (Snake Oil with cocoa, teakwood, and rice milk), but a lot of people find these borderline foody and also very sexy. They didn't agree with me because I don't like red musk, but if you can wear Scherezade, you should be able to rock these, too. I'd also recommend Blood Kiss (lush, creamy vanilla and the honey of the sweetest kiss smeared with the vital throb of husky clove, swollen red cherries, but darkened with the vampiric sensuality of vetiver, soporific poppy and blood red wine, and a skin-light pulse of feral musk) as a sexy scent that has foody elements without actually smelling like food. On me, the cherries are sweet and quite prominent, but the vetiver and wine and clove darken and spice the blend, giving it some edginess and complexity. Have fun experimenting!

Well, certainly real leather of different colors has a variety of scents, as a result of the different tanning and dye chemicals used to achieve the different shades. Regarding BPAL, it may be a scent illusion created by interactions with the other notes in the various leather blends, but my nose perceives more than one leather note in BPAL blends, maybe as many as three or four. I don't get any leather out of Perversion or Severin, and although I could smell a leather note in Whip very briefly, it was immediately overpowered by the rose, so I'm afraid I can't comment on those. To my nose, Dee, Tombstone, Shrunken Heads, Havana, Coyote, Crowley - these all smell as you've described: soft, brown leather. I find them sort of sickly sweet, and they remind me of the commercial fragrance "English Leather" by Dana and tend to make me feel nauseous. I would put De Sade, The Black Tower, and Jolly Roger together into a smokier, sharper, "black" leather category. Much more my thing, I find these to be "sexy" scents. Unfortunately, I don't get a ton of leather out of these three. The ones that give me trouble are Brom Bones, C. Auguste Dupin, and Western Diamondback, in that I can't really tell what "scent-color" of leather these would be, even though the leather note in all three is very prominent. And utterly delicious. Something about these blends by-passes my brain's ability to make finer distinctions, and my mind just signals "LEATHER!" If pressed, I would say they are closer in character to the "black" leather scents than the "brown" leather scents: sharper, cleaner, smokier. Due to the Snake Oil, Western Diamondback is quite sweet, but it seems like the leather is sharp. I could see arguing Western Diamondback as a "brown" leather scent, however. I'm a bit overtired and not sure that made any sense; I'll try to remember to come back and edit for coherency. You should definitely try Brom Bones and De Sade, though. They are favorites of mine, and I know we have similar tastes.

The Red Queen (deep mahogany and rich, velvety woods lacquered with sweet, black-red cherries and currant) is a really lovely cherry scent that isn't too sweet or medicinal... it smells exactly like the description. Blood Kiss (lush, creamy vanilla and the honey of the sweetest kiss smeared with the vital throb of husky clove, swollen red cherries, but darkened with the vampiric sensuality of vetiver, soporific poppy and blood red wine, and a skin-light pulse of feral musk) is also an interesting, complex take on cherry. The vetiver, wine, and spice temper the sweetness and make it seem dark and sensual. I don't usually care for sweet, fruity scents, but I like both of these.

Cockaigne is the butteriest, foodiest BPAL I have smelled. It started out like butter cake or butter cookies on me, but I amped the butter to high heaven and ended up smelling like popcorn and roasted nuts. Hopefully you will have better luck. If you're looking for a sugar-that's-about-to-caramelize scent, Chanukkiyah (a Yule from last year) is my favorite. The closest GC scent is Kill-Devil. Sugar Skull (a recurring Halloweenie LE) and La Befana (a Yule from last year) have a similar note. Layering Cockaigne with one of the sugary scents might give you what you're after...

Czernobog and Sin were both very head shoppy on me. I tend to associate the scent of nag champa with head shops more than patchouli, though, and most red musk blends read as head shop to me... so maybe Fenris Wolf? I agree with ivyandpeony that Anne Bonny has a prominent patchouli note. I don't find it masculine, but I could see it being unisex. And I love Sri Lanka, but I don't get much patchouli (or head shoppishness) out of it... which, for me, is a good thing! His chemistry might pull out more of the patchouli, and it's a lovely woody incense blend regardless.

Delicious. Sensual. Sexual. LEATHER. Brom Bones now reigns as the king of my BPAL leather loves. I was afraid of the "butchest, manliest of musks" - on my skin, "manly" musks usually translate into baby powder. But there are no babies' bums in this bottle, oh no. Just sexy, sexy leather with a slightly salty warmth. It's like... C. Auguste Dupin without the weird lavender note. Or Jolly Roger without the ozoney freshness. It's lickable. I am so, so sad that I did not have the cash to purchase a bottle of Brom Bones while he was available. I'll definitely be hunting down a bottle on the swaps board...

I was one the people who voted for Western Diamondback; I love it so. I have the opposite problem: if there's even a trace of sweetness in a blend, I'm going to amp it. And anything with tonka is guaranteed to verge on cloying. Western Diamondback is quite sweet on me, but it's balanced by the leather and the richness of the red sandalwood. It definitely smells like "sexy baked goods" on me. Usually I'm complaining about how sweet so many blends are; I guess this time it worked in my favor! Oh, yes. Western Diamondback burns a little when I first put it on, but nothing like the inferno that is Saw-Scaled Viper! That one is too similar to Snake Oil for me (although I do like the initial spicy blast - it smells just like gingerbread at first), but I like to layer it with Anne Bonny and Brom Bones to create a scent similar to Western Diamondback (which I'm out of at the moment). Out of curiosity, ivyandpeony, does red musk smell "sweet" on your skin? I find Snake Oil and any blends with red musk to be extremely sweet and heavy, to the point of being cloying.

WESTERN DIAMONDBACK! I don't like Snake Oil, and after trying and disliking Green Tree Viper and Boomslang (both of which smelled strongly of Snake Oil on my skin), I more or less wrote off the rest of the Snake Pit. But the exclamations of love for Western Diamondback in this thread piqued my curiosity, with all the talk of its leathery goodness and the occasional mention of an almondy note. I am so glad I got over my Snake Oil phobia and tried this one - it's perfect! Sexy, sweet, spicy, and leathery... I've been singing its praises all over the forum. I don't get any almond out of it (which is a shame), and so now I'm curious about Asp Viper...

After trying and disliking Snake Oil, Green Tree Viper, and Boomslang, I pretty much gave up on the Snake Pit. But I kept seeing exclamations of love for Western Diamondback, talking up its leathery goodness. Then some reviewers started mentioning an almondy note, and my level of interest went from merely cautiously curious to MUST HAVE. My lovely switch witch, AutumnBriars, came to my aid and sent me an imp of Western Diamondback to try. Oh. my. god. It smelled freaking delicious in the imp, both sweetly edible and leathery. I didn't pick up on any almond, but it was luscious nonetheless. While wet on my skin, it was spicy (in a cinnamon/nutmeg/clove/gingery kind of way) and sweet and leathery. Gorgeous. While drying, it started to smell slightly powdery and I thought my brief love affair might be over already. But no! My partner took a sniff and his eyes lit up with a devilish gleam. "You like that?" "Oh yes! That's very good. Mmmn... leather. Put some on me!" I dabbed some on his wrist, and much to his disappointment, the leather note vanished on his skin. That's okay - more for me. My skin usually eats/mutes leather, and I was so pleased to find that the leather note in Western Diamondback is both distinct and prominent. I finally understand what people mean when they describe a scent using phrases like "sexy baked goods". I typically don't find foody scents sexy, but Western Diamondback definitely is. Like Bastet, this is just one of those perfect "me" scents. It has good throw and longevity. My only complaint is that if I put some in my hair, the next day all I can smell is the Snake Oil... which I don't like. At this stage I find it reminiscent of grape-y incense (nag champa?), which makes me think of hippie shops and makes me feel slightly ill. It also smells different depending upon where I apply it: more leathery in the crooks of my elbows and the hollow of my throat, and more foody/vanilla in my hair.

I'm afraid Mr. Dupin has lost his esteemed place in my list of leather love to... Brom Bones! Brom is pure, sexy leather with a subtle, salty twist. I want to roll around in him and lick myself all over. So, so good. And really nice for layering, too. If you love leather and haven't ordered a bottle of Mr. Bones, hurry... grab one while you still can (for whatever reason, the Halloweenie blends are still up)!

The scent of Cinnabon makes me queasy and I don't care for cinnamony blends, but I must second Miss Lynx's suggestions, especially Bengal. A lot of people compare Bengal to chai tea, but I did not find it chai-like at all. On me, it was cinnamon + vanilla + a powdery note (which is what some musks smell like on my skin). Although not listed in the notes, Sin definitely contains red musk. So if you like scents like Snake Oil, Scherezade, and Vixen, you will probably love Sin. You could also layer Chimera or Plunder with something musky... like maybe Sed Non Satiata or Haunted... maybe even Dorian or Snake Oil for their vanilla and musks. Saw Scale Viper (from the Carnaval Diabolique) reminds me more of gingerbread than cinnamon rolls, but it is sweet and spicy and a bit musky and might fit the bill, too.

I know this question wasn't addressed to me, but I thought I'd weigh in. On me, Tempest was too floral and extremely "fresh" - like dryer sheets. Lightning was also very fresh, but was noticeably saltier and I liked it much more. If you're looking for salty breezes, though, definitely try Olokun. I think the description puts a lot of people off, but it's really very nice... clean and salty. And in the general catalogue! Other things to consider might be Sunrise with Sea Monsters (from the Salon), Jolly Roger, and The Phoenix.

This is so strikingly similar to White Rabbit on me, which is not really surprising if you consider the notes: Ichabod Crane: Dusty black wool, tea with cream, black pepper, muguet, and beeswax candle drippings. White Rabbit: Strong black tea and milk with white pepper, ginger, honey and vanilla, spilled over the crisp scent of clean linen. The wool + muguet seem to provide that clean linen note, the black pepper stands in for White Rabbit's white pepper, the beeswax smells very much like honey on me, and the tea is very quiet in both. The milk/cream provides a warm richness. White Rabbit is a favorite of mine, so it's no surprise that I also love Ichabod. Both are snuggly-clean, sweet, comforting scents warmed by gentle spices. Yummy without being overtly foody. White Rabbit has a weird, fruity top-note that isn't present in Ichabod, but I find them virtually identical when dry (when they both smell mostly of honey). I love them both, and I will have to do a side-by-side test to see if I can justify springing for a bottle of Ichabod Crane.

I like orange blossom. I like ginger. I even like patchouli, in small doses. What I do not like is red musk, and that is what comes roaring out of Vixen, accompanied by a cloying candied sweetness. Blerg. Sneaking red musk into a blend should be a crime, I say. As it dries, the candy note fades and I get a hint of vanilla. This is an improvement, but I still reek to high heaven of funky grape-y incense and feel like I've spent the entire day suffocating inside an Egyptian imports store. For fans of red musk, I imagine this would be lovely. If you like Snake Oil, Scherezade, Sin, etc., Vixen will be right up your alley. Unfortunately it was a gutter ball for me.

I put off trying Blood Kiss for a long time because my skin amps and distorts so many of its components in truly awful ways. Previous reviewers mentioning that they could detect dragon's blood resin and red musk - two mortal enemies of mine - didn't quicken my desire, either. Eventually my curiosity got the better of me, though, and I had to know which note would triumph in this clash of the Titans: vanilla, honey, cherry, or vetiver? Of those, only honey amps in a good way on me, so the odds were not in my favor. In the bottle and initially on my skin, it's all cherries and vetiver, which is... interesting. It is slightly medicinal, but not horrifically cough syrupy like I had been expecting. The sweet cherry and dark, smoky vetiver are an unexpected and unusual pairing (and not one I anticipated liking, frankly), but strangely, it works. I don't really get any clove (not surprising as my skin tends to eat that note), but there is a subtle sweet spiciness to the scent. My partner commented that he thought it smelled like brandy on me, which I could certainly see. A couple hours after application, it smells both sweet and clean. Very pleasant. I never got a whiff of vanilla, dragon's blood, or red musk (thank god). Apparently the secret to wearing notes that typically scream on my skin is to combine as many of them as possible into one blend and let them duke it out. I don't really know if Blood Kiss is for me or not, but it's confusing and intriguing enough for me to give it a few more tries. ETA: Just had this exchange with my partner: Him: "I smell the mango chutney!" (He had made mango chutney the night before.) Me: "How can you smell mango chutney? It's sealed up in the fridge. I think you're smelling me." *I offer my wrist; he sniffs.* Him: "Hmmn. Yes I am." That's okay. The mango chutney smelled pretty damn good.

Red musk is no friend of mine and lemon can be quite high-pitched on my skin, but I could not resist the lure of the sugar cane in this one. Alas, I should have. Initially I get a very crisp, clean, light scent: the lemon peel and sugar cane combine and don't quite yield lemonade... more like a very refreshing, tart lemon sorbet. No sign of red musk. I think to myself, "Hey, maybe this will be okay." The lemon doesn't turn into floor cleaner, and I enjoy the citrusy freshness for about 15 minutes. Nice. But then... red musk! It rears its foul and ugly head and scares all the other notes away from the caucus race and stands alone on the course, glaring up from my skin. Hateful beast.

Out of the gates this is a soft, clean, slightly soapy white floral with a hint of sweetness. Rather than fading, however, it seems to intensify over time and becomes much more aggressive. I AM A SWEET LITTLE FLOWER, DO YOU HEAR? WHY ARE YOU FLINCHING? LOVE ME! Hours later my eyes start to water and I realize I'm getting eye-searing wafts of vanilla (I amp and am allergic to some of the BPAL vanillas) from my hand. An undisclosed vanilla note has taken over the blend and is raking its sickeningly sweet fingernails through my nostrils. I try to surrender, but it cares not and is relentless in its assault. Beware this wicked fairy muse; her sweetness is poison.

Opening the imp, I get a blast of vetiver, which is not my favorite note. But I know there's gunpowder in here, and I'm excited. I'm hoping it will be like Agnes Nutter, but... different. And it is! Um, like Agnes Nutter slathered herself in CK One before hitting the town, that is. This is not necessarily a bad thing, at least for me. I get smoky-burnt vetiver initially, but it yields to a citrusy freshness with a hint of gunpowder beneath. The gunpowder note intensifies over time (which I love), and if I close my eyes and sniff deeply, I can imagine the copper penny tang of blood is there, too. But mostly it's sparklers and CK One. I like it; it's very clean smelling.

I agree with previous reviewers who have compared La Befana to Chanukkiyah and Sugar Skull 2007. On me, the dominant note is the rich scent of sugar that is about caramelize... not of caramel, mind you, but of a hot sugar glaze, just starting to brown (the GC scent Kill-Devil also shares this note). There is a hint of fruitiness in the imp, but it dissipates quickly upon application. In addition to that rich sugar, a smoky note blooms on my skin and gives a little edge to the scent, darkening and deepening it. I really like this. It's like a smoky Chanukkiyah, minus the fruit. Yum. No lilies, violets, or cypress to be found. Later on in the dry-down, it starts to go a little plasticky (a phase that the other sugar-based scents tend to go through on my skin, too), but it soon returns to smelling edible. It has good throw and is very long-lasting on me as well; the rich sugar scent lasts for hours and hours.

This is not what I was expecting at all! Upon opening the imp, I get a very foody scent... sweet and buttery. I double-check the label and the description; isn't this supposed to evoke a swamp? Hrm... must be the chestnuts. Upon application, that foody note really blooms, but pleasantly. It's similar to that almost-caramelized sugar note in Chanukkiyah and Kill-Devil. But it also smells clean, almost ozone-y. Like eating sweets in a bed with freshly laundered sheets. Whoa, those sheets are really clean. Really, really clean... ACK, LOOK OUT, THESE INTENSELY FLORAL DRYER SHEETS ARE TRYING TO KILL ME!!!

I'll second/third/fourth the recommendations for Bengal if you're looking for a vanilla chai scent. I can also see Andra's suggestion of Plunder + Love's Philosophy. For me, Bezoar (from the Carnaval Diabolique) is my ultimate chai scent. I would imagine you could layer it with anything vanilla-y (e.g., Love's Philosophy, Antique Lace, White Rabbit, Dorian, Mouse's Long and Sad Tale, etc.) to get the effect you are looking for.