biggnerd

Really nice lily and rose soap

Mmmm, this is beautiful. At first it is a strong almond scent. It seamlessly morphs into a soft, powdery iris. 

This starts off as a strong dead leaves notes. I don't hate this scent, but it's not one that I particularly like. Eventually that scent fades into a very very soft ambergris with some other muffled scents. This phase is pretty, but too soft for me to get any good wear out of it. 

This starts off with the bitter, earthy cacao, smoky bourbon vetiver, and tobacco. All the notes start to swirl and meld together. The main note is the tobacco, but it goes through many different permutations. It's sometimes a slightly floral tobacco (not flowery, just a little white tinge), sometimes it's chewy, sometimes it's smoky, sometimes it's a little green.  In the background, the vetiver is sweet and a little smoky, the cacao is offetring some warm, velvety earthiness, and the benzoin adds a kiss of sweetness. They support the tobacco in all its moods. This is a comforting, cozy scent that lasts all day.  

I wanted to try this because cashmere amber and orris butter = yes please. Chypres usually work pretty well on me, but patch is hit or miss.  This is one of the kinder patchoulis, not overly dirty or heavy. FC starts off with patchouli, but it quickly settles into a spicy, sweet, mossy amber with a little butteriness (and nuttiness? maybe that's woodiness?).  It's a scent that's hard to describe but it makes me feel calm and in-charge at the same time. I'm thinking this is what a sexy autumnal druid smells like?

This one is hard for me to describe. The white musk amps more than the other notes, but it doesn't quite take over. There is a soft, sweet rose hanging out with it. At times the rose and white musk almost smell a little like cherry blossom to me. At times the rose steps back and an herbal lavender mixes with the white musk.  This reminds me a lot of Right Atrium but with rose, or Pink Snowballs with white musk instead of snow. It's an airy, cool floral that doesn't go soapy or candy. I think this is what rose quartz would smell like. 

I never thought I'd find a scent where vanilla didn't amp on me, but I have. This is a very sharply citrus Dorian on me. The white tea and bergamot drown out everything else and I don't get much nuance. This is like Dorian following Kumiho to class.

Starts off as maraschino cherry - you know how they have that sharp tang to their sweetness? it's there. Then it softens and the chypre comes in making it a little herbally and less sharp. Eventually it turns into The Comforter bubble bar from Lush. It's an interesting fruit scent that isn't too sweet, but is nicely comforting and soft.

Eusapia is a very pretty scent. On me it was mostly white musk and lilac, but I bet the beeswax comes out over time. 

I'm also interested in Endless Corridors but am waiting for reviews. I like vetiver and beeswax and for some reason am getting into smoky scents lately.

V'al Hanissim from last year's Yules is really beautiful. It's a beeswax and amber scent. 

This scent created my love of beeswax and my perpetual hunt for more beeswax scents. 

This is my kind of scent - it is all sweet cedar. It's smooth, warm, and comforting. The tolu balsam is a light, greenish smell tethering the cedar and vanilla. It keeps it from going cloying or too pencil shavings. This is like a smooth, antique cedar chest, warm from the sun that held something sweet and maybe a couple of sprigs of evergreenery.  

Starts off as a soothing woody lemongrass -  not my normal scent but pleasant and relaxing. Unfortunately, the florals take over and go soapy. It dries down to a soapy sandalwood.  This would make a great atmos. 

LE: Depending on how your body handles the notes, Coconut, Smoked Vanilla, and Fig might work - I don't find the vanilla to be particularly smoky, but I amp sweetness.  I also like Coconut and Cardamom, it's a little spicy and a lot of coconut.

GC: Black Pearl is a nutty coconut for me.  Goblin is a dirtier patchouli coconut. 

This is beautiful, soft, sweet, slightly powdery rose.  It's soft and silky like sniffing red rose petals.  The leather is very subtle and is under the rose scent keeping it from going to sweet or floral. If I didn't know there was leather in this, I wouldn't list it as a scent. This is the perfect rose scent on me.  

This smells like sugary lavender fruit loops to me.  

I find almond, fig, coconut, redwood, some dirt, some sandalwood, some mahogany, some florals like rose, iris, and freesia, rosewood, some grass, pink peppercorn, some lavender, some bergamot, melon, guava, strawberry, and rosewood to all be sweet without being sugary (though sometimes guava can be) or foodie.  

22 minutes ago, artisjok said:

White Sage SN and Cool It are two I reach for often for that breezy and clear feeling.

I made an atmos out of White Sage SN that I would spray on everything before bed.  It was heavenly.  Now I'm using sage, bourbon vanilla, and sandalwood and it's just not the same.

7 hours ago, murqmaid said:

JSince I've secured Halfling, would Dana O' Shee be redundant? 

Generally speaking, how differentiated are BPAL scents if their notes are similar? Have you encountered repeats under different names? 

It's been awhile since I tried either one.  They're the same in that they're a sweet, milky smell, but different in that Dana O'Shee is a little sweeter and Halfling is a little nuttier.  Halfling smelled like a bowl of oatmeal to me, while Dana O'Shee was more honeyed milk. Castitas is a creamy rice scent to me.  

@feyofthefellwood could probably talk about the difference between the two better.

I haven't found repeats, but there are some scents that will smell similar - sometimes they'll have different notes but the same smell.  Different skin chemistry amps different things so people might find that any scent with x note will always mainly smell like that note.  

Like opening a new package of fresh Bubble Yum.  It dries down to a sweet, fruity bubblegum.  

I like Werepuppy as a creamy sleep scent. It and Palo Santo and Sandalwood are my current sleep scents.  I think Halfling, Dana O' Shee, and Castitas are in the same vein. 

What about Paladin or Lola Lee Loo?

Fig usually smells powdery and sweet to me with an edge of something a little weird. Sometimes it's good weird and sometimes it's bad. 

This is a very comforting scent.  The vanilla is very prominent on me (I tend to amp sweet scents).  It's a pure, sweet boozy vanilla extract scent and I'm not.  The frankincense is there underneath it adding a smooth, cozy, resinous, slightly spicy wood scent.  This is eyes rolling back in the head good.  It's a perfect fall/winter scent for snuggling up and getting warm.  It's the type of thing that makes you want to be close to someone so they can enjoy how good you smell.  This is like The Cat's sweeter, calico sister.  

ETA: A year later and frankincense is the star of this scent. It's a gorgeous sweet, woody, resin with that lovely vanilla. It's still The Cat's sister, but it's less about the vanilla and more about the resins now. It's a very relaxing sleep scent. 

I like earthy, woody and beeswax/honey scents when I need comforting.  My current comforting scents are:

Coiled Serpent

Anne Bonny

Epidote Phoenix

Dark Rosaleen

Palo Santo and Sandalwood

Dragon Snugs

Kinoko

Monk and Actor

Luke 10:25 w/ O

V'al Hanissim

O 

Terrae

Werepuppy (this is my current sleep scent) 

I like more herbally/grassy/foresty scents when I need soothing.  Are those different for y'all? 

Mead Moon is a beautiful scent.   For me it's mainly a soft, powdery mead with a slight fruity undertone.  It will probably change over time.  It's like Litha's more demure cousin for me. 

I haven't found a good spicy honey blend.  I make my spicy honey blend by layering O with Luke 10:25-37.  I bet V'al HaNissim would be good layered with Luke too.  

When I first put this on, it's sweet sparkling bergamot.  It settles down to a beautiful sweet grassy tonka, which I love.  I think the amber and bergamot are propping up the sweetness and the grassiness of the tonka.  This is a comforting and very sweet scent.  

It starts off pine and powdery, sweet, golden amber, then I get a little pee (which thankfully doesn't last long), and now it's a close, resinous woody scent with a hint of evergreen.  Man, this is good stuff.  I can pick out the different notes, but none of them are amped - they all blend together really well.  It's not a feral, wild smell for me.  I would say it's more gentle sex (or a nap, whatever you like) in a warm, freshly built pine shelter on a soft bed of moss with beautiful golden light making the freshly cut pine boards glow.