brsis

Normally I'm quite good with my cosplay perfumes (In case anyone was wondering, we finally landed on Endymion for Saber - it worked, somehow) but I'm drawing blanks here:

Grell Sutcliffe from Kuroshitsuji,

and/or

Tieria Erde from Gundam 00

I'm stuck because Kuroshitsuji = Cake in my head, and I can't have Grell smelling of cake. I also can't work chocolate, most berries or blood accord, so the obvious ones are out (Although Blood Countess sometimes works on me... that is a thought)

And Tieria looks so girly and acts so manly and is so obviously not a perfume person... not to mention it's sci-fi and thus well outside the usual realms of BPAL! Yet I refuse to cosplay without perfume because I have a tendancy to overdress on warm days, I never get a chance to properly air my costumes beforehand, and I need something to cover up the smell of glue and wig conditioner.

Ack, help?

Check the Excolo catagory for male gods that embody positivity - quite by accident, that's how I found Shango, my personal favourite for all-purpose confidence, charm, swagger and situations of an ass-kicking and name-taking nature. You could do the same with Illyria, and quite possibly hunt down some scents from other catagories with similar powerful attitudes.

Ogun and Baron Samedi are also favourites of mine, but I think it's important to choose scents that resonate with the person's personal tastes and feelings when going for moods - one works for one person, might not work for another, more so than when just going for 'a nice smell'.

While November makes a fair go of it in the bottle (Hates my skin), I'm still hunting for the perfect yule scent that smells like my house at 5AM on Christmas Morning. Now THAT'S anticipation.

DORIAN.

Also, if you haven't already, I'd consider at least trying Titania or Phantom Queen - they are florals, but heavy on the fruit as well. Maybe Gennivre or Pulcinella and Teresina from the Carnival as well.

Initial thoughts: Other than that patchouli sat there, bein' all menacing like, this is hot to trot. Tobacco, caramel, currants? I'm after a fruity version of Red Lantern, and I don't think I'm going to be dissapointed...

In the bottle: Burnt caramel, hint of tobacco smoke, dark berries... mwah.

On the wrist, wet: Fruity, smoky caramel. This is a little like Red Lantern, but much, MUCH darker, thicker, richer, and more sombre.

Drydown: This gets a little bit smokier and more complex on the drydown - things like the sandalwood and the cinnamon leaf come forward a little more, I think - but largely remains that sultry burnt caramel scent tempered by fruit. This is a new favourite, and I think another bottle is in order.

Initial thoughts: ... aquatic. I've slowly become all but totally intolerant of aquatics - they amp like crazy, they smell like antibacterial handwash, and they make me almost as ill as patchouli does - add some jasmine into the mix, and I'm not a happy bunny.

In the bottle: The bitter, salty aquatic smell I'm familiar with from scents like Pirate Moon and Jolly Roger.

On the wrist, wet: Still just generic ozone/aquatic, maybe a little hint of frankincense?

Twenty minutes later: Bitter, salty aquatic. If you like aquatics, then this is probably amazing - unfortunately for me, they just don' work.

Initial thoughts: Hmmm... I'm not familiar with many of these notes - well, I am in that I know what they are, but not in that I know what they smell like. Still, I'm expecting a dry, greenish incense.

In the bottle: Green incense! Very reedy/palmly, and yet theres the dry whisper of the orris and the incense notes coming through.

On the wrist, wet: Still very much the frankincense softened by the 'dry green' notes from the reeds and palm.

Drydown: Wow. Wowowowowow. This is beautiful - soft greeny-reed and dusty-orris goodness with a gentle but warming frankincense underneath. This has an almost feathery quality, as well as being as sensual and sorrowful as the description says it should be. I love it, and I want another bottle.

Initial thoughts: Eh... this isn't thrilling me. I'm expecting something like Thunder Moon crossed with Mechanical Phoenix, which is a big lot of 'nuffin on my skin. Ah well.

In the bottle: Sharp, metallic ozone perfume.

On the wrist, wet: Metallic ozone - it's not turned into the soapy stuff that turns my stomach yet, but I'm not sure I like it. I'm not sure I DISLIKE it, I'm just ambivilent and expecting the worst.

Drydown: Unexpectedly, I'm not sure there's ozone in this. It's sort of a metallic floral - heavy on the sharp, pungent notes which I associate with 'perfume' and a very strong metallic vibe, and thus not exactly my thing, but definately much more wearable than I anticipated. Shiny!

Anyone know how to pronounce the latest BPAl Micaca......

Mictecacihuatl? I'd like to know too!

I think it might be mik-te-ka-chi-hwa-t'l, but I'm a student of Spanish rather than Mayan/Aztec ^.^;;;;

Initial thoughts: ... It's bad that I really like the stamp collection line. Isaac is also one of my favourite boy's names.

On the subject of the scent itself - tobacco, bay rum, cologne? I like it!

In the bottle: A slightly spicy, warm cologne, without being too sharp or astringent... hmm, nice.

On the wrist, wet: Smoky, tobacco'd bay rum and a bit of bourbon... this reminds me a little of Herr Drosselmeyer or Hellfire, actually - I'm surprised there isn't leather in it.

Drydown: Sweet, warm, pungent tobacco cologne... This is very like Herr Dross, but lighter, and sleezier, and less 'hot' - and boozier! It's a very playful, sleezy kind of men's scent... I really quite like this.

I think I posted in this thread once before - waaaaaaaaaaay back - but I need your help again.

A dear friend of mine is cosplaying Saber from Fate/Stay Night in a few month's time (I'm helping her make the armour, and it's a bitch)

I'm not totally familiar with the character (I'm only about halfway through the anime, and I've only played what bits of the game I've been able to beg translation from my Japanese friends for) but she seems to be very powerful and yet feminine, loyal, honourable, direct and slightly stubborn.

My friend is very keen to emphasise the fact that Saber is a little bit magical/unreal/out of this world, and although she doesn't wear a lot of BPAL she really likes the idea of having Saber smell unusual and memorable (And also partially hide the fact that it's going to be a VERY hot costume!). She's got similar skin chemistry to mine, but slightly different tastes; AFAIK it basically boils down to: No vetiver, patchouli, red musk, or ozone: chocolate, cinnamon and booze notes don't work very well: and a dislike of overt violets, rose, berry notes, and citrus.

Also it has to be a GC scent, as she's planning on slathering herself in the stuff and probably using up about half a bottle over the two days, and I'd hate to see that happen to a LE.

Ta ^.^

ETA: Apparantly jasmine and wisteria are also right out - they go NASTY on her skin.

Initial thoughts: Huh... it seems Eshe gets little love. And to be honest, I'm eyeing that jasmine with some trepidation, and nothing is leaping out with a LOVE ME sign attached, and yet...

In the bottle: ... Oooh... Lady Mummy... and death.

That's basically it - it's very hard for me to put a name to what I'm smelling... it's not overly sharp as sandalwood can be, or overly herbal, or floral, or even particularly dusty... it's not quite 'white', but it's in that general area. But it smells of death. Not decay - death. In a not-bad way, if that makes any sense.

On the wrist, wet: On, it smells less 'perfumy' if that makes any sense... this is very soft, subtle, dusty, and utterly heartless. Vividly evocative. Unless it does mad crazy things on the drydown, I want a bottle.

Drydown: Hmmm... not mad crazy things exactly, but... things.

The florals have come back, and now this smells... less like mummy bandages, more like perfume and coldcream. Still nice, but I wish I could have kept the wet smell. I might get a decant or two to top up my partial bottle, because I think I might like this in a scent locket, but alas it isn't quite as delicious as I had hoped.

Initial thoughts: Hmm... there's a lot of killer notes in there for me (Patchouli, red musk, possibly lilies, poppy and black currant as well) so I'm really not expecting something even wearable.

In the bottle: Musky poppy, patchouli and nicotiana, with the slightest hint of fruit.

On the wrist, wet: Poppy, lily, fruit... a bit of musk and patchouli... this is unexpectedly more floral that I expected, but still predominantly a dark, musky/resinous scent with a bit of fruit.

Drydown: MUSK - which goes funny on my skin. Quite a bit of the nicotiana too, and a hint of patchouli and the currant. Not something I'm going to wear, alas.

Initial thoughts: Oooh... tobacco incense = win, but opium is nasty on me. Hmm...

In the bottle: Sharp, smoky incense with a hint of dark tobacco.

On the wrist, wet: Dusty, wet, old smouldering incense and tobacco... it's an amber/frankincense kind of incense, I think, and it's got a bit of opium sharpness.

Drydown: I get less incense - and unfortunately, less tobacco - on the drydown. This is a sort of dusty, old frankincense and opium thing. Not so much my kind of scent, but it's got a kind of vague warmth and mystery which means I might wear it on occasion.

Initial thoughts: TEA. Also I was very pleased when I saw that was jasmine LEAF rather than straight jasmine - which does not agree with me. I'm expecting something refined and a little cologne-y from this.

In the bottle: I'm primarily getting the musk and the fougere, actually - it's slightly sharp and pale and definately like a white, fairly unisex cologne.

On the wrist, wet: More of same - very sharp and pale, with the slightest hint of vanilla tea. Want more tea.

Drydown: Well, it has a bit more tea - Earl Grey is fairly wussy as teas go, so I wasn't expecting OMG!Tannin, but still. Even a little vanilla, but the sharp white musk and fougere dominate this. It IS quite unisex, but at the same time it's very crisp, very light and bright and a teensy bit astringent.

Initial thoughts: Oh. My. I was up for a bottle of this unsniffed - tea! mint! sugar cane! There isn't a single bad note in it as far as I'm concerned - unless I get Orange and Lemon City (Unlikely...) this should be yummeh.

In the bottle: Tea, a little mint, a hint of lemongrass, the tiniest touch of orange blossom and a definate dash of sweetness.

On the wrist, wet: The lemongrass is very strong on my skin - which is a shame. I hope it calms down, because underneath is sweet mint and tea and THAT is gorgeous.

Drydown: TEA. For a good addicted Brit like myself, this is DELICIOUS - a good tea with plenty of tannin, sharpened by mint and lemongrass and sweetened by the sugar cane and honey, with the slightest breath of orange blossom. It's quite strong, but because it's so complex and because the main note is the tea, it's quite subtle - someone would probably think they were smelling something nice, but I doubt they'd pick it out as your perfume. I think I need a backup bottle of this!

Initial thoughts: Jasmine and musk and violets... oh dear. I doubt even my love of vanilla and mimosa is going to rescue this one.

In the bottle: Jasmine with a hint of violets - it's heavy and very floral.

On the wrist, wet: Still predominantly jasmine - which goes very plastic and fake on me. Hmm.

Drydown: Plastic jasmine. Alas, this is definately not one for me.

Initial thoughts: Woods + Rose = DEATH. If I wasn't so fixated on collecting the entire set, I would have skipped straight over this one.

In the bottle: SWEET MARY MOTHER OF GOD.

THAT is what rose is meant to smell like! None of this fuzzy-wuzzy floating pollen nonsense - that is what the great, heavy, thick-petalled, so-red-they're-almost-black damask roses I used to crawl under when I was a wee one used to smell like. I think it's the combination of rose with the woods and the labdanum which is giving it that dark, potent, sultry scent instead of the 'fuzz' I'm used to. This is getting used to scent SOMETHING even if it doesn't work on my skin!

On the wrist, wet: This is a bit more like the rose I'm used to - still grounded and darkened deliciously by the woods, and with sweet but sickly labdanum - it's also quite potent, with a fair throw.

Drydown: I have massively underestimated this. It's amazing. It's dark, heady, the slightest bit of sickly-sweetness - it's a bit too 'grown up' for me, is my only problem. If I had another ten years on me, this would be the perfect powerful sultry evening scent. Heavily floral, yes, but hardly girly.

Initial thoughts: This one was a 50-50 chance for me - it would either be amazing, or utterly foul. Almond milk and tobacco love me, patchouli and pine hate me, sarsaparilla - I have no friggin' idea, but Stimulating Sassafras Strengthener was not my friend and I have a feeling they are similar if not the same. But still - if I hadn't found a partial of this, I would probably have bought a bottle.

In the bottle: Pine smoke and a hint of cologne, but soft and mellow and very pale. None of the sharpness I normally associate with pine, or much in the way of almond or patchouli.

On the wrist, wet: There's the almonds! But they're not too strong or marzipan-y, and there's still that pale, smoky pine cologne.

Drydown: This smells like a dapper gentleman - pale but warm, smooth, smoky, mellow and ever-so-slightly sexy. Definately a men's scent, for me it's like the cologne and smoke that has slowly accumulated in a man's suit until no amount of washing will get the faint trace out, along with warm almond milk. This is actually quite a comforting scent - I may need a back-up bottle!

Initial thoughts: Chocolate isn't always my best friend, but foodie lover that I am, how could I pass this up?

In the bottle: Bitter dark chocolate and lots of double cream.

On the wrist, wet: I get less chocolate because my skin tends to drink it, but there's this delicious, almost bitter, cream that is left. The sugared cream note in Diary of a Lovestruck Teenage Cannibal is one of my favourite notes, and this is even better - dark and sultry instead of giggly and sensual.

Drydown: This remains pretty much unchanged, except for the fact that I slowly lose all but the slightest hint of chocolate. A single note double cream - dark, evil double cream, that will make you gain five pounds just by thinking about it - is pretty high on my list of dream scents, however. I need a full bottle of this, I think!

Initial thoughts: I'm a fan of sweet/foody and incense scents, but I don't know how I feel about them together. Night-blooming flowers often means heady or heavy ones, and I'm not a fan.

In the bottle: This is very sweet - initially floral, but then has an almost bubblegum quality which makes me wonder if it doesn't in fact have lotus. Definately some heady jasmine or other flower as well.

On the wrist, wet: The bubblegum recedes a little, but it's still quite sweet. The florals are softer. There's something slightly sharp that I can't quite place, but it's not unpleasant.

Drydown: This is a sweet, vanilla-like incense - not resinous at all - with the slighest hint of bubblegum, and heady but very gentle night blooming flowers, of which I highly suspect jesamine (Like jasmine-lite) and possibly some lotus. This is gorgeous if, like me, you love sweet scents and non-overpowering or pollen-heavy florals. I'm going to thoroughly enjoy wearing this.

Initial thoughts: There are some good notes in there for me - heliotrope, vanilla, coconut - but the lemon flower and opium smoke is putting me off.

In the bottle: It's a smoky lemon for me.

On the wrist, wet: Darker, more complex now, but still principally the lemon. I'm not great with citrus.

Drydown: After a while, the coconut comes forward, which means I now have lemon scented suntan lotion. This isn't a great success for me.

Initial thoughts: I would never have picked this girl out myself, but I'm really glad I got frimped it!

In the imp: Soft, liquid honeysuckle and bright tangy pepper.

On the wrist, wet: This is slightly less sweet and not quite so overwhelmingly peppery on the skin, but it's still deliciously feminine with a playful kick to it. This is the kind of wet, sweet floral I like, and the pepper makes it a very characteristically 'me' scent.

Drydown: I wore this for a whole day at work, and it felt fresh, vivacious and energetic for hours at a time. Great stuff!

Verdict: I want a bottle!

Tl;Dr: Sweet liquid honeysuckle and passion flower with tingly pink pepper, playful but bold.

Tobacco scents are win

A few of my favourites: Hellfire, Peversion, Ogun

Might also want to try: Dracul, Elegba, Gaueko

There's also some great blends with tobacco in the Salons series, they don't get nearly enough love.

The other tobacco scents I like are LEs, but if you like LE stalking try Herr Drosselmeyer and Red Lantern (Might be a tad girly, that one, but worth a try I think)

Initial thoughts: Hmm. Hmmm. I'm quite into tropical scents at the moment, but this one might be a bit too leafy/woody for me, as it has no fruit.

On the wrist, wet: BANANAS. And now sharp, acrid SOMETHING. This smells like banana incense. I... I hate bananas.... I thought it said 'leaf' in there somewhere...

Twenty minutes later: Well, it doesn't smell like bananas anymore. This is woody and leafy, but sharp and slightly astringent. It's bright but not a 'happy' scent. I quite like this, but it's a tad medicinal for my tastes.

Verdict: Keeper... I don't know if I'll get a bottle.

Tl;Dr: Dark green, slightly sharp and astringent tropical leaves and woods.