lucy gray

Feeding the Dead really is nommy. I was wary of the beer as well, but it's not boozy in the way that makes you smell like you've spilled your drink down your front; it's just a warm, homey scent that gives the cake and incense some extra oomph.

Feast for the Greatly Revered Ones is a great fruity wine/chocolate -- it's what I wanted from Centzon Totochtin, but only got for a minute before CT dried down.

Dulces En Fuego Smooch in the shower + Count Dracula afterwards = YUM. I think I'm going to try layering the Dulces oil with the Count tomorrow.

Just off the top of my head, I want to smell like:

 

-Thimble Island, State Fair, Brand New Key, and AntiqueHighHeelRedDollShoes by Rasputina

 

-Thirteen by Big Star

"AntiqueHighHeelRedDollShoes" seems kind of Obsidian Widow to me, for reasons I cannot begin to understand. Maybe because OW strikes me as a "red" scent.

I feel like "Thirteen" (awesome song, btw!) is summery, warm and sweet and grassy. I get that from Roadhouse, weirdly, but YMMV.

Interesting - my brain went a completely different route. I was picturing the dusty, sandy planets, and thought of Coyote and Tombstone for Luke.

I was just going to rec both of those! Maybe layered with one of the Steamworks metallic scents, to evoke the power converters. Or Faeu Boulanger, for his time on Dagobah.

Cottonmouth is one of those scents that absolutely shouldn't work on me. Snake Oil? Lily? Narcissus? Ugh, no thanks. But I guess Beth really does work magic, because I loooooooove it. Everything blends together into a beautiful clean, fresh cottony scent. (Note: there's little difference between the scent in-bottle and on my skin.)

In the vial and during drydown: berry. Real berry. EXTREMELY berry. Berry berry berry berry. Berry. Berry berry. Berrrrrrrrrrrry. Unfortunately, the berry wears itself out with all that berry-ing, and once AC has dried, all that remains on my skin is a very slightly more powdery Snake Oil.

Another way to go for the whole "sexy undead" vibe is to wear intoxicating fragrances that have just a hint of grave dirt in them. It sounds strange to want to smell like dirt, but in blends like Jazz Funeral, it turns a heady mix of southern blooms and booze into something that just hints of graveyards and death. To me, it feels like the whiff of death hiding under a veneer of vitality. Voodoo Lily is a gorgeously dark, exotic floral with heady spices that is gorgeously seductive without the dirt, if dirt turns you off.

Yes! I guess it depends on your favorite vampire "type" (Anne Rice fops, glittery virgins, the various takes on Dracula, etc., etc., etc.) and whether you find the Lab's dirt note wearable, but Nosferatu, Penny Dreadful, and Zombi are some of my favorites. The sweet/dirt combo is compelling in the way I picture vampires being: attractive but with a kind of repellant undertone.

Dia is my #1 coconut blend. It's so light and creamy and pretty, no suntan lotion smell at all. Shoggoth and Black Pearl are really great, too, although I like them because they aren't creamy -- they've both got a sharp green edge that makes them super huffable.

I agree with I Died For Beauty. I think I got "powdery" from Veil, as well.

(Note: this is aged, original-run Snake Charmer that I'm talking about.)

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Not a lot of plum to my nose -- the major difference between this and Madame Moriarty -- just thick, warm, spicy vanilla. This is what I expected Snake Oil to smell like, rather than the stale, grungy patchouli that I get even from hella-aged SO.

A little goes a long way, though. One small swipe on my wrist had me smelling it like it was right under my nose for hours and hours.

As a longtime aficionado of stuffing my face with cake, I can say with some authority that most everyone else here is right: Eat Me smells like a big ol' slice of cake. Not the stuff from a box, either, but the fancy, boutique bakery kind that comes with airy whipped frosting and fresh fruit on top. It's no replacement for actually eating that cake, but if you are the sort of person who makes occasion-specific mix tapes or likes matching your shoes with your handbag, you might enjoy wearing Eat Me on your next trip to the bakery.

Wow. I think this is the first time I've gotten every listed note from an oil! I tend to amp rose, and it's dominating here as usual, but there's the amber right behind, and finally a hint of grassiness and slight aquatic/metallic edge. This is a really interesting scent, although not something I think I could deal with smelling like all day, my desperate love of amber be damned.

It was starting to seriously bother me that I couldn't figure out what Zephyr reminded me of, and then this morning I cleaned out my tackle box of old -- sometimes REALLY old -- makeup and perfume. It's Bonne Bell Skin Musk. Like, exactly. So if you're one of the approximately three people who 1) love BBSM and 2) can't get out to a Walmart to pick up a bottle, BPAL's here to save the day.

It's strange -- Shoggoth is an intense scent, but actually kind of light; it isn't overpowering at all and has a medium amount of throw at best. Wet and for the first half-hour or it's VERY tart and a bit sharp, though I wouldn't say unpleasantly so. And the florals and musk are present, just not dominant. As it wears, the tartness becomes much less in-your-nose and I get more amber/musk. Yum!

Masabakes smells like evil. I mean, on me it also just kind of smells bad, too, but yeah, creeeeeeepy. It's very thick and heavy and present, like if impending doom had an odor.

I tend to have bad luck with grass and wood notes, but I love amber and musk, so I thought I'd give Coyote a try. I am SO glad I did. I don't know what the magic formula is here, if it's a little tricker's prank or what, but this is pure happiness on me. Soft and warm and not too much of any one note, which is great because if I amped any of them it could easily turn ugly.

Reaper & Flowers was my first lesson in "don't ever ever EVER wear anything with lily" -- I smelled like one of those little rose-shaped guest soaps from my grandma's half-bath. I don't hate florals, but lilies sure hate me. If they like you, though, I imagine this could be a very pretty scent.

In the vial: verrrrry strong, but actually kind of nice. A minty lavender.

On my skin: Ouch. I like pennyroyal, but not when it punches me in the face like that.

My first hint that I can't wear scents that evoke freshwater -- it's just too cloying and strong. The equation of horror goes something like floral + water + me = the sweet smell of Nair.

When I wear Torture Queen, I get all of the listed components -- but none at the same time. It starts out chrome, then tea, then gardenia... the last lingering note is vanilla musk, which I LOVE. Yeah, I'd call it a morpher.

It lasts forever, has plenty of throw, and while I understand how it's more "commercial" smelling than a lot of BPALs, I don't smell like CK1. So glad I sprung for a bottle.

Wet: DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRT.

Dry: Wine and dirt and...something vaguely floral. I don't know what it is, exactly, but everything together smells of cemetery rot, dead roses and decomposing bodies. But in a good way, if you can believe that. This scent really matches the concept -- I keep sniffing at my arm and thinking, "God, this is repulsive! I want more!"

The Bloody Sword smells like a combination of Sudha Segara + Dragon's Blood, if that helps anyone. Now to figure out what Brides of Dracula reminds me of...

Resiny, woody, and very, very sweet...so, pretty much what the component list would lead you to expect. I've visited Kostnice (my avatar is from a photo I took there, actually) and don't find this blend especially evocative, but I imagine on someone else it would work better, both as a perfume and as a capturing of the spirit of the place. Unfortunately, rosewood really doesn't agree with my skin, so it's just not going to happen for me.

Bilquis reminds me a lot of Queen of Sheba. I mostly get bitter almonds and bitter spices, just a lot of bitterness overall. It's thick and heavy and quite overwhelming. Alas.

For me, there's little difference between in vial and on skin: dragon's blood, dragon's blood, dragon's blood, dragon's blood, cinnamon, dragon's blood, dragon's blood, and a faint whiff of...dragon's blood.