northatlantic

[2006 version] Let me preface this by saying, I love ginger. LOVE. But I was unsure about this in the LE version because resins and I have a tumultous relationship. Particularly frankincense and myrrh (actually okay together, separately notsomuch. go fig). So when it said "dark resins" I was leery; what does that MEAN? But I figured now that it's available in imp form, why not give it a shot? In the imp: Buttered popcorn and Pine-Sol. This is not allaying my fears at all. Wet: A second--and I do mean second--of buttery Pine-Sol and then PEPPARKAKOR. Exactly like the wonderful Nyaker's orange pepparkakor at World Market that I have forbidden myself to buy any more because I'll eat the entire box in a sitting. I was wondering what I would do when my Gingerbread Poppet ran out--I wonder no more. A big bottle of this is definitely in my future, provided it doesn't dry down weird. Drydown: Nope. Still cookies, although they gentle down to a softer ginger-cookie scent, more big soft cookies than pepparkakor. The citrusy note also remains, like a touch of orange or lemon zest in the frosting. Pretty good throw, I tested with a tiny wipe of the imp and it's still wafting up from my hand pretty strongly at time +1 hour. LOVE. Big bottle.

In the bottle: An almost medicinal sniff: all I get is a very sharp orange and musk. Buh? Where's my tea and cardamom? On, wet: Musk attacks! some of Beth's musks are yummy on me, and some of them are stridently cologne-y. Apparently amber musk is one of the latter. Nooooo! I want to smell the spicy orange tea! Drydown: (+10 minutes, approximately) The cardamom and tea leaf are shyly poking their heads out along with a tiny bit of orange as the musk monster starts to calm down; it's beginning to smell like Constant Comment tea, although the musk is definitely still present, prowling in the background. I don't get an amber quality from this at all, although it's definitely not a black or red musk. It is definitely a golden scent, however, and at this stage I like it a lot. +1 hour: the kittymonster is almost gone. This is definitely a beautiful wild creature, it's just a little TOO wild to begin with and if I have to reapply frequently, I need to figure out some way to settle that musk down. This may have to go to the back of the BPAL drawer to age a little, or possibly be layered with a vanilla or softer tea scent to soothe the cologne beast. ETA: I got a little droplet on my shirt and it smells much sweeter and more balanced there, so this may be a scent locket candidate.

I haven't smelled it, but by notes Ode on Melancholy, Shroud, and Zephyr seem to be similarly soft combinations of light floral, sandalwood and white musk.

Hmm. Neo-Tokyo - with its ozone and bamboo, always feels slightly chilly and calm to me. Ophelia - I'm not a fan of rose either, but this didn't amp to high heaven on me, and it definitely had a cool, distant quality to it. Sea of Glass - some people smell grapefruit in it so you might exercise caution, but for me it's a very calm and meditative beachy scent, simulating that long walk-and-think experience in my head. Severin - Has bergamot, which is slightly citrusy but a lot of people who can't wear lemon/verbena/grapefruit don't mind it quite the same way. Severin's something I wear when I don't have time for people messing with me, and the leather adds just enough interest to distinguish it from other cool/clean scents. Sea of Glass is "I want to be alone," Severin is "LEAVE me alone," if you get me.

Lentisque is another word for gum mastic, and petitgrain is an oil derived from the bitter orange tree, which also produces neroli. Sounds like you're looking for a blend that's both bright and incensey, with a rich, sweet drydown. I know you don't want to hear about another LE you can't order an imp of, but I wonder if you don't want to think about one of the Snake Pit blends, maybe Temple Viper, Banded Sea Snake or King Cobra, for something that's got that rich incensey sweetness at the heart but a little clarity and brightness to it as well--at least they're not discontinued yet, and as people start getting their decants there should be imps on the forums for swap. In the GC, the closest I can think of by base/heartnotes would be Les Infortunes de la Vertu, Versailles or Moscow if the scent goes more floral on you, or maybe Greed or Sri Lanka if it's more woody/incensy. As I have not had the opportunity to try Habanita, however, you may want to take those with a large grain of salt

Alas, no, although I love her look too. Looking at the notes, you might want to go Jacob's Ladder to echo that fragrance, it might be the closest of the suggestions so far to Shocking.

For period reference, Jean Patou's Joy, Schiaparelli's Shocking, Chanel No. 5 and Tabu would have been big fragrances during the 30s, which seems like the look you're working. Gardenia, jasmine and tuberose would have been popular, and so were chypres from what I can tell; I'd recommend either Euphrosyne (yeah, I know, you said no rose, but I thought I couldn't wear BPAL's rose either until I tried Euphrosyne) as a Joy analogue, Hunger or Loralei to echo some of No. 5's or Tabu's notes. That help any?

Tried Mag Mell yesterday and it was sunshine in imp form, in a very spring-sunshine, new-things-growing-and-blooming sort of way.

Mantis--there's just something about the way the amber and red patchouli blend that's really wonderful and patchouli usually totally ruins a scent for me.

On my mom, White Shoulders led with the gardenia and jasmine--my first thought for gardenia and jasmine together is Euphrosyne, which is all jasmine, gardenia on me with just a hint of tea rose and vanilla (but not at all a foody vanilla IMO, just adds a certain richness to the scent). Mata Hari might be good too, it's a little darker and more mature than Euphrosyne but it's also much rosier and I don't know if that's something that might put her off since there is no rose at all in White Shoulders. AFAIK those are the only scents with both notes, and if the lilac or amber is more prominent on your mom, these recs may not work for her at all. Do you have a sense of what comes to the fore on her most? ETA: thinking about your mom not doing so well with the heady scents, I'd probably of these two say Euphrosyne over Mata Hari, it's more delicate and has a less potent throw, on me anyway. You might also consider Thalia for a light delicate gardenia, if the jasmine is too much.

hmm. I might consider Sea of Glass for the ocean-y part your layering, easier to find than Kingsport as it's GC - also, when you layer, I'd do a single application of one scent on one body part and then another on another body part--like, say, Samhain on your wrists and Sea of Glass in the crease of your elbow/cleavage, let it mingle in the throw rather than all right on that one spot, it might get kinda busy/acridly strong that way. good luck!

I almost want to recommend "Sea of Glass" for that one. or Undertow, although only thematically for me as juniper hates me long time and mint loves me WAY too much. Danube, maybe, because it has a darker, bluer feel to me, while Sea of Glass always feels like the sun glinting off water...

Bella, you might want to be careful to pick something that hovers pretty close to your skin as opposed to wafting; as many people who will be thinking "oooh, what smells good?" there will always be someone who will find it unpleasant/even maybe be allergic! the hazards of perfume in a professional environment. That being said, I'd also tend to steer clear of foodies and florals, as they may reinforce a sense of "sweetness" or "girlie-ness" which it sounds like you're trying to avoid. Tushnamatay and the Lion both sound like good possibilities there, and on a slightly different note I'll put in a vote for tea scents or citrus for clarity and brightness without being traditionally perfume-y, like Embalming Fluid, Kumiho, or Severin. All that being said, my butt-kicking 'take me serious' scent is the delicately floral Phantom Queen, because Morrigan's got personal significance to me and putting it on is sort of sharpening my metaphorical sword and asking her blessing on what my opponent's about to receive So use whatever gets YOU in your game space, even if it seems unlikely.

Teggy, have you tried any of the blends listing white rose or tea rose, instead of just rose? Every single blend I've tried with just rose or Bulgur rose listed has gone screamingly shrill rose and nothing but on me, but when I tried Ophelia (white rose) and Euphrosyne (tea rose) the rose was definitely present, but played nicely with the other notes and actually smelled like roses, not rose-scented air freshener.

Well, there's Wolfsbane, but if her werewolves are the heroes not the villains, that may not be the best And if you do get her addicted enough to prowl the forums, Luperci, maybe? Other possibly lupine/lunar thoughts: Black Forest, Bloodlust, Moon Rose, Tarot: The Moon Fellow canids-NOT-wolves: Kumiho (fox-demon), Coyote, The Fox-Woman Kunozha Leaving Her Child

My experience from enabling the office, the ones I had that seemed to please the widest variety of people: 1. Black Pearl 2. Mantis 3. Danube 4. House of Mirrors* 5. Sea of Glass 6. Anne Bonny/Cathedral (tie) *if HOM unavailable, substitute Hungry Ghost Moon. If HGM unavailable, substitute Zephyr, which although I myself do not care for, quite a few people of my experience do.

Haven't smelled it but according to Google it has a top note of lotus, a midnote of "wild rose" and a base of white amber; I don't see anything terribly similar but you might try Marquise de Merteuil and Versailles for florally-amber scents, or Bastet for lotus and amber with a softer, more incensy vibe. Jacob's Ladder would probably be a little sweeter than Alabaster, but it's lovely so I'd fully support looking for it anyway I'm in a minority with this I think but I love Mantis as an amber scent; it's just so fresh and golden at the same time, like late-spring sunshine. Don't be scared by the patchouli, if that's not your thing--I am SO not a patchouli person, but I love this blend. It just adds a hint of earthiness to ground the top notes.

Skuld was ALL honey on me.

CCLXXVI (276): In bottle: Sweet-tarts, and oh no, is that rose? Please don't be rose. I fear the rose. It kind of smells like Ophelia, only not as aquatic. Wet: holy cow. Notrose. It opens up with a STRONG bright citrus; I think it might be yuzu? either that or a really sweet grapefruit. Yum! It's cooling to sniff; it smells exactly like that spray you get when you're peeling a grapefruit. Underneath is a sweet creamy floral, maybe sweet pea? and either apple or cherry blossom. I think apple, because it reminds me more of Phantom Queen than Neo-Tokyo. Drydown: a lily note comes out, I think stargazer, and I think this has a white musk base, either that or it's the "lily musk" that's been mentioned in some of the LE blends. There's still a teeny hint of the citrus but it's stepped way, way back. I think there might be white tea in here too, a soft pale note like new leaves. Best. Scent. Ever. Seriously, it smells like the love child of Baobhan Sith and Phantom Queen, wearing a single lily in her hair. Someone trying to make a specific "me" scent couldn't have done better than this. If I could buy this again? I would buy vats of it, I would swim, it would be my new signature. Alas, since it is not to be, I will just guard my bottle like a dragon with her hoard. makes me afraid to buy another bottle, now, because after this, how could I be anything but disappointed?

if you can score a bottle on the forums, I highly recommend Spirits of the Dead; in our extremely hot and humid broken-air-conditioning'ed office, it stayed light and green but got this lush quality that surprised me with how sexy it was. I think linden likes heat. if no, try Neo-Tokyo, it always feels cool on my skin and it's GC. If you don't like cherry blossom and ozone, I second Embalming Fluid and would also add Dirty, that's a very crisp light scent.

Any suggestions for a GC equivalent for Spirits of the Dead? Best. Smell. Ever, and at the rate I'm going through it, number one with a bullet for first 5 mL emptied I have The Unicorn on order for the linden, any other suggestions? Green tea thoughts other than Embalming Fluid and Shanghai, both of which my skin devours in minutes? Thanks!

I know amber is on your no-go list, but since you said you generally favor aquatics you might want to try and score an imp of House of Mirrors in swaps and see what you think. On me it's very grapefruit, with an aquatic base and a very slight, sweet roundness from the amber (which is a touchy note on me, sometimes it's nice, sometimes it's evil baby powder). Several other reviewers also noted that they thought HoM=Sea of Glass w/grapefruit added.

Dunwich was very much a realistic bog smell on me, if you can get a hold of it, it was part of the Springtime in Arkham Lovecraft LE series. The Apothecary smells to me like tall grass on a humid summer day, that thick sweetness of it and almost pepperiness of the dry edges on top. A lot of the green tea scents have an outdoorsy quality to me that's more "grass" than the scents where grass is listed as a note, a lot of which go super sharp and soapy on me. maybe a thought?

All I could find for the notes that might be in Sparkling Mountain Springs is "a green scent w/citrus and jasmine bouquet," so maybe try Phantasm? It's lemon verbena, green tea, jasmine and I think sandalwood. I found a better resource for White Linen at basenote.com here , so you can maybe try and use the search engine with those. Good luck!

I don't have the citrus problem, but I'm not so good with the rose or lotus either. I loved Phantom Queen, which is orchid and apple blossom and red clover, light, fresh and sweet without being cloying (although applying, a little goes a long way). Juliet was also very light and fresh to me, pear and sweetpea.