rawgirl75

I too also recommend Rumpelstilzchen. It's one of my favourites and sounds exactly what he's asking for.

Straight out of the mailbox, my first sniff was disappointing. The notes were 'fractured' all over the place, as it's namesake suggests. Air freshener came to mind.

But thankfully, I waited a day for my bottle to settle down before re-sniffing. And I was glad I did, because it was so much better: Wet top notes of slightly aquatic tobacco flower (nicotiana) and crocus, and a bit of khus (vetiver grass) backing it up. (so far so good)

I did a quick mini test first on the back of my hand to see if it passed the "no-migraine-causing" test. It did (yay). So I went straight for a proper test next:

Tobacco flower bursts out dominant (reminds me of Smoky Moon 2009 - a top 10 fav of mine).

Khus (vetiver grass) then does this awesome thing on me - starts out as a masculine cologne only for about 20 mins or so, and then flips over to a sweet fresh dried grassy smell.

Ambergris initially starts out salty, but that soon fades away and then turns creamy and smooths out the sharp edges of the florals and grass and ties everything together perfectly...

OMG I love this.

All in all, Fractured Singularity ends up being exactly what I'd hoped it would be. It sits on the slightly floral side of the gender neutral fence, so I've been layering it with a bit of sugared vanilla these last 2 days to push it over the edge. It slays all.

Gonna keep my eye out for a backup bottle for sure.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Update*: This has aged fabulously and has become a multi-bottle Top 5 favourite.

"While I'm still new to the whole idea of BPAL, and am wondering how to get around the shipping costs to Canada,"

Don't buy within Canada (bottle shipping cost is expensive), unless it's imps only and the seller knows how to pack the package so that it fits through that little slot at the P.O. for cheap shipping.

Shipping from U.S. based sellers and some International countries is best. I usually get shipping prices between $4.50-$7.00.

I do have at least one goal in mind for a scent to try: one that inspires cool, collected, rational and abstract thought."

Dee is gorgeous. Definitely try it.

Scents with a touch of ozone or ether come to mind. You might like Lurid, Lightning, Smokestack (heck several of the Phoenix Steamworks section of scents could fit).

Lavender notes work opposite on me (they stimulate my nose too much and make my brain overwork) so TKO and company keep me up all night.

The sleep scent that I use regularly is aged Blood Kiss. It makes me feel like I took sleeping pills and knocks me out.

Used the old search tool and here's what it listed:

Contains leather and pepper notes:

The High Priest Not to be Described

Hand of Glory

The Bloody Sword

Burning Vulva

Two Monsters

VILF

Ebenezer Scrooge

The Soldier

Contains Leather and 'Spice' notes:

Mama-Ji

Calico Jack

The Arabian Dance

I get mostly frankincense. Strong single note at first, then turns into soft sweet woody resin.

I don't smell anything that says vanilla, but obviously it must be what's keeping the sweetness.

Oh. and this frankincense is also weird in a good way -- like the usual pickle-ness of frank was turned off.

The first sniff-test got an "Oh my god!" reaction from me yesterday, so I knew I needed to do a proper skintest of it for work today. And OH HEAVENS is it really good. Definite bottle purchase. It might even be a multiple bottle purchase if it passes the slather test later.

It falls under the classic "Soft Floriental" category of scent. Very feminine without being girly girl. In a way it reminds me of the commercial scent 'Hot Couture by Givenchy' I wore for years before I discovered Bpal, except this has rose instead of raspberry.*

I think that fans of Under the Harvest Moon, The Unheavenly City, and The Living Flame would like this too - with Under the Harvest Moon being the closest Bpal to it.

[edit] Actually I think it might be Amarige, not Hot Couture that it's reminding me of.

Oh crud. I hated this in the vial, so I didn't bother skin testing it before placing my order yesterday.

This completely transforms on skin -- the drydown is incredible and not at all what I was expecting. And I have no other bpals to compare it to, so it means it has to go on my wishlist now.

Wow, just wow.

[singing] "One of this things is not like the others..."

I'm a Smut lover -- I have all the Smuts. So I don't know if there was an error with our bottle, but this 2013 decant doesn't smell like the other years (I sniffed to compare). It's heavy with the same dirty red musk that's in Lips Full of Lust and Laughter, I can't detect vanilla this time (yet it's really sugary), and the dark booze isn't one I'm familiar with. I'm sorry to say I don't care for this one, so am not buying a bottle.

Am officially in love with this blend. On me, it's a cross between Event Horizon and A Blot Upon the Earth minus the vetiver. Instant bottle purchase!

Fans of Parliament of Monsters or Blood Countess may also love this too.

It's been a very long time since I smelled a rose blend this awesome. Full, lush and sweet -- not soapy at all. Coconut is normally a deathnote for me, but isn't bothering me here. I only wish it didn't last so long (I need scents to fade fast)...and this just doesn't quit.

Rose lovers NEED this in your collection. And those dissapointed by previous roses going sour on them, may find this the rose blend they were always looking for.

Darn that honey note -- foiled me again. Wet Vivamus wasis pure heaven on me. I immediately loved it slathered all over my arm and huffed it over and over again for nearly a half hour.

Then something weird happened: the notes disappeared into my skin completely and I couldn't smell anything other than a bit of honey gone funky. But then the funky honey slowly started getting louder and louder and doing it's bad thing that it tends to do: turn into B.O. So I ended up with just a stinky arm. Am sad now.

[edit] I retract all the bad things I said about Vivamus. I'm in love with it now (honey be damned). Even my father didn't complain about it (and that says a lot!). It wears close to the skin like a skinscent.

Am hunting down all the bottles now.

Lavender is too busy for my nose to handle (it actually keeps me awake!), so I can't wear any of the sleep blends to bed.

I'm using Blood Kiss instead. I'd noticed when I first tried it long ago, that it made me feel very sluggish (as if a vampire were trying to lull me into a trance). So one day I decided to try it in bed, and was happy to discover that it helped me sleep better and didn't bother my nose.

I would wear anything you've found really soothing to bed.

I found basil really gorgeously pronounced in Scorpio 2007.

I really loved this in the vial. And wet on the skin as well. But then something happened and my chemistry completely gobbled up the gorgeous dirt, loam, and patchouli. And all it left me with was soapy pine-sol in it's place.

After years of stalking, I FINALLY got my hands on an imp of this.

Black musk and vetiver love me, so I knew this would probably be good. And I was right. What surprised me was how much it reminded me of German Expressionist Horror. However GEH still owns my heart and is easier to get a hold of, so I'm pleased that I can now safely store this one away and close the book on my search.

"Creosote, coal, and industrial waste."

From it's description, Smokestack sure didn't sound that wearable. But OH what a great surprise! This is fantastic stuff. My first Steamworks category success (of the 6 I've tried). Definitely gender neutral. Some sweetness in the sort of caramel-y way that Antikythera Mechanism was on me, but not cloying. Reviews gave me the idea it would be a bit warmer than it actually is. This is an overcast sky, plumes of coal smoke, and concrete jungle. The coal dust really reminded me of Le Pere Fouettard as well. I was worried about the metal note some reviewers mentioned, but thankfully it's subdued here.

Verdict: Love it!

I find Brisingamen very soothing.

I'm getting Witch Dance. The reviews make it sounds like a Snake Charmer type scent I could actually wear!

This would be gorgeous on those who like mahogany. Unfortunately, I dislike mahogany immensely so it's all I can smell here. I should have cross-referenced my spreadsheet before taking the plunge on this one.

Wow. This one's going to be very sought after in the years to come. It's really good. Unfortunately however, it's got two qualities about it that will prevent me from keeping it:

a] Its got good throw. Like Snake Oil, if you over-apply.. people WILL notice. (I work in an office building with many people with scent allergies so I need to keep my scents close to me.)

b] It lasts a long time. I applied this to my arm 8 hours ago and it's still going strong. I expect I'll still smell it tomorrow. (I prefer to change up my scents often -sometimes wearing two in one day.)

Oh! and ps: I figured out which scent it reminds me of: a more gender-neutral version of Inez.

Oooooh yeahhhh you came to the right place. What you might want to try is The Living Flame and The Unheavenly City. Delicious!

So, my dad, like most dads (or men in general) is really hard to buy for. He likes cologne and after shave, but of course I can't buy him just any ole off-the-shelf scent. So, I need some leads on what could be good dad scents- something that is pretty tradtional as far as "manly" scents are concerned.

 

I buy all the men in my life scents with no problems, but for some reason feel stumped with this.

 

Any suggestions?!

What are the colognes he already loves? That will help us know what 'kinds' of scents he prefers: woodsy, dark, spicy, clean, ozoney, fresh or citrusy, etc etc etc.

I remember the Samhain I tried years ago (it was 2006 or 2007 version, I believe) as being quite overly foody and awful on me. However, after reading the reviews for the 2011, I decided to take a gamble and aquired a tester of it.

YES! I love this! Although I can smell a bit of apples and pumpkin, this is mostly outdoor woods, fir, wine, patchouli and smoke on me. Gorgeous. Since it sounds like 2011 is the only version like this, I'm definitely ordering a bottle.

[edit 12/01/11] Oh no.. When I got home later this evening, I craved more and so I slathered my arm.. and that's when the clove and pumpkin took over. I'll have to be so so light with this.

[edit 12/03/11] Okay so I'm in love with it again. I diluted it with 3 parts jojoba oil to 1 part Samhain in a rollerbottle and I've worn it three days in a row now. TBH it kinda reminds me of my Devil's Night 2005* (apple-y batch only).

This blend is the opposite of what I should be able to wear: I usually loathe white musk, white chocolate sometimes goes plastic on me, and I almost always get a headache from snow, incense, and leaf notes. But so many good reviews of this convinced me to try it.

And I just can't stop sniffing my wrist. It's really that good.

I'll admit I still fear that it could trigger a headache if I slather it, but I'm seriously tempted to pick up a bottle anyways.

[update 10/22/12] After a year of aging, Sonnet D'Automne has firmly become a top favorite. If you haven't tried it yet, I strongly recommend it - it's gorgeous.