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My number one rosewood recommendation has to be Pumpkin II 2009 (pumpkin, rosewood, red sandalwood and tea rose) if you can find some!

I must preface this by saying that I can't be sensible about this scent. Now, with that out of the way: the red musk is dominant, but there's something lurking underneath. Waiting for me to figure out what it is. Biding its time, smelling like the unknown ingredient in the Thorntons 'Choccies' I was obsessed with. For some unknown reason my brain automatically calls up the word 'CHRISTMAS' (I know: what?) to describe this particular undertone. I don't claim to understand my brain. So, along with the red musk, the cologne that seeps in during the drydown, the little hint of smoke... it smells like sex, on Christmas morning, surrounded by plundered bags of Thorntons Choccies. Don't say I didn't warn you.

I just now noticed this post, but bpal's Sin is very similar to LUSH's Glogg, in my opinion.

I am totally hoarding Glogg. The salesgirl suggested it as a sub of Tramp (it's not, sadly) and I fell head over heels. It's just utterly gorgeous and I love that it has the cinnamon/patchouli deliciousness and the citrus is present but not overbearing or over sweet.

 

The closest BPAL scent I've found is The Phantom Calliope black cherry, patchouli, cassis, cardamom and verbena. The cassis is sharper than the cinnamon in Glogg and LUSH just has that distinctive citrus that no one else can replicate. It's not an exact dupe but it's pretty good.

 

While I'm here--anyone have a good perfume dupe of Tramp? Greed is pretty close but, again, there is a very faint hint of citrus in Tramp that really brightens it.

Cheers, guys! I think I'm going to try the Phantom Calliope, since it's been mentioned as similar to both Glogg and Tanin'iver. Also, I'm skin testing the Dodo right now, and it's definately in the same family, to me.

Okay, have any of you tried Glogg shower gel yet? If any of you know of a scent that's similar to it, please let me know so I can amass a hoard. (It reminds me of my dear, departed Tanin'iver... )

I didn't think much of this the first time I tried it--it seemed very sharp, but now it's had a few months to mellow the red musk rounds out the scent and adds a thick, almost cocoa-rich backdrop, and it tempers the woods. It has a smoky quality once it's dry, and it's quite complex and primal. One to try if you like Dragon's Heart!

Hunger! Out of everything I've tried over the year I've been into BPAL, it's the longest lasting. So if orangetastic, dark vanilla sounds like something you'd like then get on it! I also found that Shattered lasts a long time, even though it's bright and citrusy. Oh, and anything with pumpkin!

Fresh rose with a green streak. Medium throw but good wear length. A little too fresh for me.

Starts off very like Bow & Crown of Conquest; on me the sage is very strong to start off, then once the sage drops away there's more cedar than the leathery/vanilla dry stage of Bow & Crown. It's very nice. I love the sage and the cedar isn't too loud (I do like it but sometimes it takes over a scent for me, but not in this case) but I find myself missing the vanilla and leather because Bow & Crown and I are eternally betrothed.

I found it quite difficult to distinguish the notes in this one, mainly because it wore off so fast on me and I'm now sitting huffing my scarf to remind myself of my fuzzy-morning perfume reviewing thoughts. Anyway: I get a little rose and ambergris, I think. It's very fresh and light, and although it's not something I'd usually wear I wouldn't have been annoyed if it stuck around. In an odd way it reminds me of eastertime at my old church, or handing out daffodils on Mother's day. Strange.

Pretty rosewood with a bit of sharpness during the wet/dry-down stages that I think comes from the leaf, but it's a good sharpness. It gives the scent some bite for a while before it dries, and then it morphs a little and I get a little something a bit more ... traditionally woody than rosewood (I know, that's the most crap description ever, but I know what I mean!) which I think is my nose trying to interpret the hazel. Sadly, it doesn't really have a great wear length on me, although I do enjoy it when it's there. The sharpness in the blend actually reminds me a little of the Peacock Queen, but instead of being a fresh rose it's tied to the softer, antique rosewood, which really works for the concept. One to try if you can't really wear straight-up rose, as I'm finding with a lot of rosewood scents.

Oh my god. I never would have ordered this of my own volition, but that just goes to show you how outrageously stupid my own volition is. Instant favourite. The throw is strong, and the wearlength is the longest of any BPAL I've tried (I wore the scent three days ago and I can still smell it on my sheet, and it lasted on my skin until I washed it off the next morning). It's a gorgeous, orangey, darkness: like a coil of sweet, chocolate-orange smoke. I don't know how else to describe it, but it's the first 'floral' fragrance I've ever really loved. It's convinced me that I might really love orange blossom, and that it's good to sniff outside the box! Definately one to keep for sexy moods.

I was expecting something foodie when I ordered this (and I love foodie!) but I was surprised when it didn't quite turn out that way on my skin. I get the tangerine cream, and it's not what I expected, but I really love it for what it is. I can't really pick apart the notes of this one very well, it's so well blended, but I think the thing that makes it less foodie for me is the ambergris, and if that's what it is then... I guess I really love ambergris! Not really a morpher on me, and the throw and wear length are both medium (which, for me, equates to a short shift at work: six and a half hours). I don't know why, but there's something classic about it to me, which I know is an odd association to have.

The first time I tried this I didn't think much of it, so I just stuffed it in my '?' tin and forgot about it for a few weeks... then I tried it again. For some reason, this time I appreciate it. It's beautiful. Sandy cider, carnation and amber, which sort of melds together and reminds me of really good, fresh chamomile tea: full, golden buds of it. It's so warm and comforting and I am so, so glad I decided to give it a second chance, because I thoroughly underestimated it the first time. There's much to be said for letting things settle! I think I throw the word beautiful about thoughtlessly, but sometimes you come across something that really deserves it. Queen Alice deserves it.

My first experience of the Carnaval, and of Snake Oil! At first this is a rich berry, not at all cloying, and then it mellows into a vanilla richness that I can only assume is Snake Oil. It's really, really beautiful, and the berry doesn't look like it's going to disappear, which I was a bit afraid of. As time goes on it just melds together to create something seriously unf and hoard worthy.

ETA: After wearing it for a full day I've realised that it reminds me of this little Boots rollerball called Dreamcloud I had years ago. I think it was while I was still at school! This is a more sophisticated, less cloying perfume, but there's something about it that sates the agony that (apparently!) still existed from when I walked in and realised they'd discontinued it. I hoarded that little bottle into the fridge until it was finished, and then I never really loved a perfume again until BPAL. Strange...

Surprise hit from the frimp camp! This is lovely, and I'm so glad I've found a dragon's blood blend that's light enough to wear to work and doesn't inspire my usual dragon's blood reaction. The dragon's blood is light, as I've said, and the amber is warm and enveloping... I love this, it's so warm and pretty, and it lasts!

I get some lemon peel and the tiniest suggestion of sage, but then it happens: Jasmine and Orris and their boots of scent ruination arrive and stomp all over everything. They are not my friends. I think I just personally dislike them and it's not a chemistry issue. Sigh. They are very sharp to my nose and I'm starting to consider that they might be my first 'death notes'...

Wow. People were right when they said this was sexy. It's like a blanket of sexiness. It's a very warm scent, and I mostly get a lavendar/leather/vanilla combo with the tiniest breath of of the other notes every now and again. The sage is definately more prominent in the beginning on me, but it settles quite quickly. Light throw, but this is the sort of thing that I'd want someone to have to lean right in to sniff.

When I first tried this it went to powder on me and I forgot about it. I must have been having a crazy chemistry day, because I tried it again a while later, utterly fell in love with it... then realised it was discontinued and I'd missed the cut-off date for getting a bottle. I will forever regret it and keen out of the window of my tower, mourning my own stupidity. I don't know how to describe it, but I think I've used 'sexy cola' in the past. It's a little bit spicy, a little bit smooth, a little bit fruity... all fantastic. It has inspired me to go on a (mad) spree of dragon's blood hoarding. Oh, Tanin'iver.

This is what I imagine I wanted Tanin'iver to smell like, but it went to cursed powder. This is a smoky, thick scent with a tang of copper and, oddly enough, a tiny, tiny piece of something that reminds me of cocoa (but in a bloody, musky kind of way). I think I'm detecting black patch in there, but I'm not sure. This really isn't my normal type of scent, but there's something intriguing about that's making me huff my wrist obsessively.

ETA: I meant to update this earlier! This scent goes really wrong on me after a while. I think I either amp the type of patchouli in this blend or really dislike it, because Bloodlust eventually got the wash off treatment (plus my feelings for Tanin'iver have completely changed, but that's neither here nor there ). The patchouli in this is very similar to the Obsidian Widow, another blend that I can't wear.

I get a handful of crushed mint leaves, but it's warm mint, not cool. A little bit herbal... then after five minutes it morphs to powder. It's still a minty powder, if that makes any sense. Perhaps one to keep for its intended uses rather than its fragrance.

I find this upsetting purely because there is rose in there that doesn't become too sweet or sour on me, but I think the sandalwood is ruining it for me. There's something about this one that sticks in the back of my nose, and it reminds me of the bottom of that glass of wine (you know, the one that was officially One Too Many.)

ETA: since I first tried this I've discovered that it's the patchouli that I dislike.

Aquatic and very, very cold. I have mixed feelings about it. It's interesting, but I don't think I would ever wear it, so I guess it's just a matter of personal taste. I keep sniffing to try and work it out, but my nose isn't sophisticated enough to make any sense of it. The incense was very fleeting on me.

Very sharp and green. I'm having real trouble picking out any notes in this one, so it's difficult to say that about it I dislike. It's not hateful to me, but there's something in there that doesn't smell the same as coconut but gives me the same vibe, and it's an automatic turn off for me. It's like grapefruit and coconut had a lovechild... and although one parent is very attractive to me (grapefruit!) you just can't thwart those coconut genes...

Mint and grapefruit are predominant at the start, and it reminds me of something from my childhood that I really can't put my finger on. It's making me really nostalgic and I wish I knew why. It's fizzy too: maybe it's the 'champagne' note that's doing that... and it's a fantastic thing! Fresh and cool and gorgeous, but with a very long memory for me.

At first I get moss and carnation, which I should love, in theory, but I don't. As it settles I get a little bit of lavender in the background, but not so much that it makes me think oh dear god lavender (I associate lavender with headache cures... go figure) because I think the carnation is taming it. Decent throw, and really beautifully blended and smooth, but I don't think it suits me.