RasAlgethi

Oooh, I like it. In the bottle the cedar does give a dusty impression. I definitely get the vanilla and sassafras under that though. However, for me personally, it's just barely too masculine.

Could this be?.... is it.. love?

I was a little wary right out of the bottle. The vanilla and sandalwood was all good but I wondered about the masculine oak and tonka.

On my skin it warmed into a beautiful sweet vanilla that doesn't scream VANILLA at you. Reminds me of a darkly lit library. Oh I love!!!!

This is a unique scent, not like any bpal I've tried! And the color is outrageous and beautiful. I'm not surprised that it's a little polarizing here on the reviews.

I'm getting no dragon's blood at all. Instead this is all cinnamon on me, reminding me of big red gum and a dentists office. Or wallgreens. Doesn't read as "wrath" at all to me. To the trade pile.

Someone earlier said, "evil fruit punch" and I have to agree. Love it in the bottle. Smells like walking into lush, but not my style.

Lovely in the bottle, very regal. Sadly on me it's just gardenia all the way. Very sickly sweet. Kinda old lady. A real shame because the notes are beautiful. I'll just have to chalk it up to skin chemistry.

Apricot! Loud and upfront. Even on the dry down all I'm getting is mostly apricot.

Later on, smelling some vanilla on my wrist but no cardamom. While I wish it were a little more complex on me, I really like it.

Quite nice in the bottle. I'm getting jergans hand creme, which I always like (definitely the almonds). A creaminess.

Sadly, on the skin I am amp-ing something powdery. Still love the vanilla almond underneath but just a little too soft of a scent for me.

Very green and clean right out of the bottle. Not picking up on anything but geranium.

Deeper scents coming out on the skin of course. On me at least, worryingly beginning to smell like powder (that must be the rose). I'm not sure about the apple everyone else seems to be getting.

On the dry down, not getting any better. Sadly the rose seems to be dominant on me. There is a little of the incense-y smell underneath that I really like but it's just a tad too faint.

I am trying to go a little more feminine with my style but this one just isn't working for me.

Oooh, I love it. Completely marine.

Dry: Loving it less. I can't quite put my finger on it. It seems a little too fresh maybe. A little too one note.

Ozone all the way. Very clean and light.

Dry: Soaping up on me, which I don't hate. Doesn't quite live up to the name I think.

This is my all time favorite scent. I'm getting peppery plum. And it gets even deeper on the dry down.

It's actually quite difficult to review. I've had it for years and now the smell has so many associations with it. I don't know if I tried it for the first time today that I like it. But that's how smell goes.

Nekan: You're right, I don't see a lot in common there! Except maybe a little bit of floral? But with balance. Overall a sense of freshness perhaps

There are some scents that I love that have no business being in there but, as you all know, smell is incredibly powerful. One sniff can transport you back to a certain time and place. It's amazing. Sometimes I just get certain feelings from notes. It doesn't necessarily have to be tied with nostalgia.

I don't especially love Loup Garou but when I smell it for some reason it signals to my brain, "you're going out tonight and getting wild." That's another topic for another thread though.

So maybe they don't have common notes. It could just be that your brain gets activated in different ways for each.

Based on your notes, have you tried Dorian, Morocco, and Baruch's Phoenix?

Love Dorian! Tried Morocco, and I remember that it didn't work for me. Maybe it was the dry down. A little too woodsy without anything to balance (on my skin at least). Baruch's Phoenix sounds excellent, I'll add it to my wishlist <3

Lady_Pandora: Do you have a favorite Vanilla/Sandalwood? I love that combo too!

Spreadsheets are my go-to for any significant quantity of data I'm having trouble wrapping my brain around... which describes BPAL's catalogue pretty well. Like gentle-twig, I give every blend I've tried a rating (1 = Nay, 2 = Ehh, 3 = Yay). Then I plug the notes into a five-column spreadsheet...

 

Column 1: note name, listed alphabetically

Column 2 (green): names of blends with that note that have a 3 rating

Column 3 (yellow): names of blends with that note that have a 2 rating

Column 4 (red): names of blends with that note that have a 1 rating

Column 5: info about the note, if I have any

 

This way I can tell at a glance what blends I've tried with a given note, and how many of them have or have not worked for me. Even if I don't know exactly what something smells like, knowing what blends contain it really helps me form a useful theory about whether it will work for me in a new blend.

 

This process has also made it obvious that Beth uses some notes way more than others! You may actually have so many fave blends with vanilla in them, not because it's your favorite note (though it clearly works for you), but because vanilla is in so many BPAL blends.

Oh, you're making me wish I had that "already tried" list. It feels like it might be a bit too late at this point.

It's a very good point about the vanilla. I wonder about that sometimes.. it must be difficult to create so many scents. You have to make things that aren't to your taste and still trust that they're good. Otherwise everything would be the same notes.

LizziesLuck: You did it? Sweet! I see a lot of light foodie scents there. I wish I'd kept a "didn't work" list so I could find my disliked notes. Honey was also big on my list, and I would have overlooked it before.

Balame: Ooooh, thank you! These sound perfect. I spent some time working on a goat farm so now I can't rest until I get my hands on My Baby and a Baby Goat. Wild sentence, but I'm not editing it

Drat, I missed The Waltz in my Crimson Peak order. I'll definitely have to swap for it, now that I know that my nose wants vanilla, amber and musk.

That Iulia sounds absolutely divine. Top of the wishlist! And I'm in love with Blackcurrant too <3 The Vetiver in SSFTTOIS has me a little concerned, but I guess the idea is to branch out a little and try new things so... Vetiver, I'm giving you a shot.

I've been trying to figure out why I've been getting some pretty "meh" imps lately. They're not bad, just not for me. I typically go for scents that sound just lovely in the description, but then I noticed that imps in my favorites pile didn't sound exciting on paper but I adore them just the same. So I put it to the test.

I took all the descriptors from my top 40 scents and tallied the notes.

Of course, this is just how often the word is mentioned. For instance, a lot of scents had only a hint of vanilla. I can't think of many that I have that are dominant vanilla (bahaha, dominant vanilla! )

Based on this, does anyone have recommendations? It would be greatly appreciated

I know a lot of you like to use the excel spreadsheets too Anyone else try this out?

Imp: Oh my! Woodsy through and through. I've been looking for a scent like this one.

On skin: Pine. Just oh so Pine. It reminds me of those cedar boxes with glittery pictures on the front that I used to buy in Ocean City. Not bad scent, certainly very nostalgic for me, but probably not the deep woodsy scent I'm looking for.

Looking for a recommendation!

Winter is a rough season for me, especially with all the snow this year. ❄️❄️❄️ It keeps me from going outside and soaking up the sun on my face and feeling the soil under my feet.

This often leaves me feeling anxious and my thoughts go spinning, sometimes into panic. What I find works best is grounding exercises. Becoming focused on the physical world, here and now.

What scents are best for grounding? It's doen't necessarily have to be a deep soil smell, just something that brings you "back to your body."

Thank you all💜

Thank you all! I will try TKO for my lavender/vanilla

I love this combination in a lotion I have but wish I had a more complex oil. Any suggestions?

(Mod note - referring to vanilla + lavender, title of original thread)