eyeska

So I finally got my paws on the Aquae massage oil, and it is looooovely. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for things in the way of perfume oils from BPAL that might compliment it or serve as a substitute when I want to sniff it but don't want a massage? I know that some of our forumites have successfully used the bath and massage oils as moisturizers, but I would like something a little simpler to apply and transport. The scent consists of: Roman chamomile, frankincense, sandalwood, helichrysum, davana, geranium, and lavender.

That sounds friggin' amazing.

On me, Blood is very similar! (Essence of dragon's blood resin, thickened with myrrh and cherry, with a trickle of clove.) I have most of the other Dragons, and none have the same level of spice as Tanin'iver, but Blood fits the bill quite well for me. I will try them side to side this weekend and see what I find, for other folks to confirm. Sorry this is such a late reply....

This may not seem sufficient, but, can you imagine putting (for instance) "myrrh, red patchouli, cognac, honey, and tuberose and geranium in a breathy, panting veil over the darkest body musk" on a 5 mL or imp label and still having it be legible? EDIT: Actually "Through sunlit caves of ice, roses unfurl amidst dancing waves of serpentine opium smoke and amber tobacco, golden sandalwood, champaca, tea leaf, sugared lily, ginger, rich hay absolute, leather, dark vanilla, mandarin, peru balsam, and Moroccan jasmine" is a better example. (Khubla Khan) Also, some scents do not have ingredients listed at all, even on the site. Oh, you misunderstood me, or perhaps I wasn't clear. Why aren't the non-fragrance components listed, for example: jojoba oil, almond oil, fragrance. I think it is important to know the carrier oil components, especially for people with allergies. I've been wondering about the carrier components since I get skin reactions to some BPALs and not others. Curiously, my skin reactions don't seem to have anything to do with common skin irritants such as cinnamon, cassia, clove, etc. because I avoid scents containing those fragrance notes. Listing carrier components is required for food and cosmetics. Ingredients that make up less than two percent of a food product can be listed under a general term, such as "spices," but I don't know what the rules are for cosmetics. ETA: Many of the cosmetics I use have a list of ingredients on a separate piece of paper that is enclosed in the packaging, or the ingredients are listed on the web site of the manufacturer. Ah! Beg your pardon, I did misunderstand. Sorry about that.

This may not seem sufficient, but, can you imagine putting (for instance) "myrrh, red patchouli, cognac, honey, and tuberose and geranium in a breathy, panting veil over the darkest body musk" on a 5 mL or imp label and still having it be legible? EDIT: Actually "Through sunlit caves of ice, roses unfurl amidst dancing waves of serpentine opium smoke and amber tobacco, golden sandalwood, champaca, tea leaf, sugared lily, ginger, rich hay absolute, leather, dark vanilla, mandarin, peru balsam, and Moroccan jasmine" is a better example. (Khubla Khan) Also, some scents do not have ingredients listed at all, even on the site.

Puddin' has said several times in various places on the forum that Scherezade is one of his faves. I need to put that one on my hub! Dirty could be awesome too - your review makes me want to get an imp of it for him.

The Black Rider (Black leather, oppoponax, tobacco, and black amber)! Maybe Dance of Death (Dry, bone-white orris, black musk, serpentine patchouli and our murkiest myrrh)?

That said, Velvet Dogs Playing Poker is from a year ago, and may be more readily available. It worked on me when Miskatonic U didn't work with my skin chemistry, so I'm quick to mention it. "Smooth wood, sweet pipe smoke, tonka, and Irish coffee."

This may just be me, but Nostrum Remedium reminds me of Velvet Cthulhu - the fresh, savoury green tea.

cfrancesca, thanks so much! Great shots. OMG, now I want ALLL the Yuletide Faire labels and a bottle of Ded Moroz. Maybe my decant will be unbelievable. <3

I need to reiterate Wild Men of Jezirat Al Tennyn. One of the sexiest scents on my hubby, hands down. <3 Velvet Panther, Velvet Tiger, Dee, Cthulhu, and Phoenix Steamworks are fantaaaastic, too.

I'd love a DM Yule scent or lunacy....yes I can dream too. Have you looked into Dragon Moon '08? It may be findable on the sales forum . . .

What would a vampire slayer wear? *grin* I mean, depending on what she was like, she'd wear ANYTHING, but in the forumite's minds, when they think of a lady, in army boots and a skirt, armed with stake and shovel, what does she smell like, or what does her perfume smell like, as she smiles intently at you?

It reminds me a fair bit of Lust, actually. I'll have to do a comparison and confirm, but the two are respectively: LUST - Uncontrollable passion and insatiable sexual desire: red musk, patchouli, ylang ylang and myrrh. MIRCALLA, COUNTESS KARNSTEIN - Languid, melancholy fire: red musk, purple orchid, frankincense, smoky vanilla, Styrian herbs, peru balsam, tonka, Zanzibar clove, and patchouli. Of course, I don't notice much clove in Mircalla - I'll report back. EDIT: Hmm, okay, I clearly didn't test Mircalla out properly the first time. The clove is definitely primary, and you can catch the floral, peru balsam, and francincense on me on top of the warm musk and patchouli. HOWEVER! They have a similar feel and tendency, even though they're distinct enough that I think I need bottles of each. You might wish to layer a clovey scent atop Lust to get more of that languid fire.

Scent lockets are basically locket pendants (ha, big jump there, right?) with strategic holes intended for you to put cotton pads/small bits of fabric fabric/etc with your perfume on them and then into the locket. They're fantastic if you cannot (or don't want to) wear the perfume directly on your skin, and they minimize morphing and other skin chemistry complications. With issues relating to skin contact with EOs, you can see how that would be useful. The Black Phoenix Trading Post has some stunning ones (and some Neil Gaiman ones!), though there are others available via other retailers.

Does anyone have any potential suggestions for Velvet Cthulhu?

Thanks Eyeska ... can you give us mini reviews of them or put them in some catagory like Aquatic, resin, foody etc? Catch the info over here.

Okay, guys, I am in CANADA and I cannot contain my effing squee. I had a dear friend hit Comicon and the CBLDF booth pretty hard for me and look what she brought me back! Floater and Typewriter Incident.

There's also a whole thread about applying oil from the bottles in the FAQ section! It's over here.

Gennivre sounds like she'd be up your alley: Hyson tea leaf, pale mint, sugar cane, orange blossom, lemongrass, and honey.

Given your requests, I'd recc: Whip (Agony and ecstasy: black leather and damp red rose), Loviatar (The slap of slick, hot leather punctuates the warm, sensual embrace of black amber, red musk and dark, lascivious myrrh), De Sade (The essence of pleasure heightened by pain: the raw scent of leather), and Hellfire (A swirl of pipe tobacco, hot leather, ambergris, dark musk and the lingering incense smoke from their Black Mass). . . . of course all this presumes you'd be interested in leather. I'm having trouble finding something "wet", though Whip seemed to be a bit when I tried it.

Arachnina isn't that scent, though - Did you mean Antonino, The Carny Talker? I like your suggestion for Katie, though!

As a wee bit of a hijack, I am in TOTAL agreement . . . because who here has ONE scent that is "them"? For some folks there is a "signature scent" but as far as I can tell, such people are in the minority of the variously-scented-on-various-days BPALers, myself included. Back on topic, I am LOVING this thread and having way too much fun reading other people's interpretations of scents and being introduced to scents in a different context than I might have thought of them.

Masquerade Patchouli, ambergris, carnation and orange blossom. This is a soft, velvety patchouli. Patchouli can be pretty casual, I find, and this is the most elegant primarily patchouli scent I've ever smelled. Yggdrasil would add some beautiful crispness to this. Brisingamen five ambers, soft myrtle and apple blossom, myrtle, and carnation. A quiet, soft resin with a bit of carnation spice. I don't think either scent would overpower the other. Scherezade Saffron and Middle Eastern spices swirled through sensual red musk. I love a mixture of red musk and crisper notes. Scherezade is beautiful, elegant and sexy. It has a lot of throw but if you're getting married outside strong scents are more forgivable. I've not had a chance to try out the layering yet, and to be honest I'd forgotten to look into this thread before making my most recent BPAL order, but I'll definitely try out Scherezade as I have a whole, aged bottle of it, and I just had to go check and discovered that I was right - I got frimped Bringsamen in a decant circle order I got today. And is it ever gorgeous! I can't wait to see how it goes with my beloved Yggdrasil. Thank you for the suggestions.

Stormclouds on the Midway is a dark indigo-ey purple. Mmm.