cfrancesca

I find this a dark, sexy, smokey, spicy rose and leather blend. The smokey opium and leather stay strong for a while, but eventually the spicy rose amps on my skin.

This is really creamy in the bottle, it reminds me of the creamy ambery base in Glowing Vulva. As soon as I apply, I get orange, mandarin, and slightly spicy cream, which together smell like an orange creamsicle on my skin. Though not listed, I think I'm also getting a bit of vanilla in here, but cream isn't listed either and this smells really creamy to me. Next to amp is the gardenia and at this stage it starts reminding me of a creamier Sibyl. The gardenia continues to amp on me, at times I find it just a little bit high-pitched, but the soft spicy creamy base really helps with that, though the creaminess does weaken with time. This finally settles into a gardenia scent with a creamy citrusy base.

Fetish.Goth is mostly strong, spicy resins, patchouli and leather on me. I do get some sharpness from the blend, which I think may be mostly coming from the patchouli and maybe the resins. The leather starts off strong (it kind of reminds me of the leather in Black Rider), but it moves to the background with time. Once settled, I start to really amp the resins and I also get some smokiness and bit sweetness coming from them. The latex emerges as well, but it's soft and I find it works surprisingly well with the blend. I also get occasional hints of the skin musk, but it's faint on me and mostly overpowered by the resins and patchouli.

Very sexy and I think this will get even better with some age (and possibly lose some of the initial sharpness). I think resin and leather lovers will like this one.

I'm getting a smoky, woody floral with myrrh, dark musk (black?) and currant. As it dries I start to make out some of the blood note and bit of rose (which has a tinge of soapiness), the musk slowly starts to amp and turns slightly powdery.

First applied, I get a lot of chestnut, some smokey leaves, soft spruce and gritty dirt and gravel. As it dries hints of tuberose come out, the chestnut takes a back seat and the blend starts to get smokier. It finally settles into a mostly dirty, smokey leaves and tuberose scent, with hints of chestnuts in the background. I find this very evocative.

This lemon verbena smells like a mix of citronella and lemongrass on me, a green and herbal lemon.

This is very dark brown in color, almost black. I'm getting a dark, fruity, deep red musk. As it dries, some earthy patchouli emerges. This is gorgeous.

I get a slightly sharp, spicy floral powder, as it dries a get a little nutmeg and the cardamom become more pronounced.

I'm mostly getting creamy cherry blossoms and some juicy, slightly tart tropical fruits. Though I find the over scent well-blended, as it settles I can make out the pink grapefruit, guava and a touch of lemongrass, the hibiscus also peeks through. Sadly, I don't smell any of the foody scent or vanilla others are getting.

I get a very crisp apple, fizzy, clean scent. It does have a slight detergent tinge to it, which gets stronger the longer it's on my skin.

I get scorched wood, smokey vetiver, spices (cloves?) and resins (almost cola-like), it has an overall gritty, ashy feeling. As it dries, the clove amps on my skin and there's a slight metallic tang to it, which must be the blood. Not something I would wear, but I definitively find it very evocative.

Opium and fizzy champagne, an odd combination to my nose. Though I like both notes separately, together they are not working for me. It's a sharp, powdery, fizzy, dry mess on my skin.

Prototype, unreleased, no scent description.

This started out as damp, earthy moss with a delicious chocolate/cocoa note, which amps on me. I'm also getting some patchouli and in the background, something almost boozey to my nose. This smells like it could be a dark, evil, earthy chocolate box truffle. Strange combination, but it surprisingly works. It's a little green, foody and very earthy. The blends mellows out with time and settles into a chocolate and moss scent.

I get a light watery floral, a soft skin musk with a soft, almost toasty note in the back. As it settles the 'toasty note' almost completely goes away. I find this is in the same vein as The Unicorn, mostly ethereal, hazy, white florals. Unfortunately with time, this gets sharper and headier on me. This has strong throw.

I mostly get sandalwood, blue musk and soft florals (in that order), the other notes are well-blended but I do get the hints of tea and white peach.

This is a very fresh, airy, clean scent on me. I get tropical florals, a bit of green and soft tropical fruits? The fruit smells like fresh tropical fruit salad, like starfruit with a hint of fresh melon, something pulpy and fresh. I also get hints of soft linen as it dries.

There are very few bpals that I'm completely turned off by, this happens to be one of them. I get a cloying and nauseating chemical sugar powder, cream and dry sandalwood. This sounded like it would work based on the reviews since I normally like sugary, creamy scents but this was a disaster.

Super fizzy and citrussy. It smells like a lemon cleaner on me.

This started out as a flat and kind of an odd scent that is dusty, creamy, sweet, but also kind of sour and stinky, I wonder if my tester has gone bad? As it dries, I get a bit of chocolate and a flat cream scent. I might have to seek out another tester to compare.

I get creamy, slightly sweetened, roasted coffee. The creaminess goes slightly off on me, similar to what happened with Bah and Misk U, but not as bad. As it settles it starts to smell like roasted nuts.

This is gorgeous for red-musk lovers. I get lots of red musk, woods and smokey incense. It gets a little bit spicy as it dries.

Yummy sweet grape and an almost fizzy wine scent. As it dries it starts to smell more like grape candy.

This is complex and chilly. I get mint (with a touch of spearmint), soft vanilla, a bit of green and soft florals (slightly reminiscent of When the Winter Chrysanthemums Go) all blended together with that lovely soft creaminess from Snow White. As it dries, some pine and a slightly sweet musk emerge and the chilly mint, soft vanilla and green amp on my skin. Sadly, the vanilla is starting to get a plastic tinge on my skin.

I mostly get cake and orange, as it settles I also get a hint of strawberry, but it's very light.

Can somebody recommend to me some good "tropical" bpal fragrances for the summer? So far I pretty much like anything Bpal comes up with that contains plumeria or is 'tropical' in some way. I like Machu Picchu, Delight, Muse, and also Pele, and Thalia. I wear most things with these types of fruity/floral/ tropical smells. I want to feel as though I'm sitting on a big beach, slathered in coconut oil and drinking fancy boat drinks while smelling big tropical flowers. Can you tell I'm a pisces?

All of the fragrances I listed before are great, I'm just looking for new stuff to try.

I'm a big fan of jasmine (obviously..), tuberose, gardenia...

From a fellow Pisces, may I recommend these- Tiki Princess (LE) - A frothy, cold coconut perfume, pure and sweet, with gentle wafts of plumeria, pikake, and ala ala wai. It was an LE forum exclusive blend that was sold last year, but I think it might not be too hard to find as I occasionally see it pop up in sales pages. It doesn't have the fruity drink aspect, but for that maybe something from the Atomic Luaua Lounge (Blue Fire or Red Tide are my personal favorites) or Coral Snake which is - Snake Oil with blood orange, red apple, lemon peel, plumeria, and gardenia. Also, Enlightenment of the Courtesan Jigokudayu - Silken coconut, angelica, soft golden incense, tiare, carnation, and Asian pear. It's my new favorite coconut blend and it's still available from the lab. That has a bit of everything you described, the coconut, a drink (the pear is sweet and fruity, like a juicy refreshing cocktail), and the tiare (tropical flowers). Definitely Tiki Queen but that one is a little harder to find. I also love Obatala and Pele, especially for the summer.

Some floral recs-

For gardenia (my personal favorites):

Swan Maiden (LE) - White gardenia, white iris, sandalwood, calla lily, French magnolia, muguet, jonquil, and orchid.

Marae (LE) - Vanilla orchid, Monoi tiare, gardenia, and light incense.

The Harp of Cnoc l'Chosagair (LE) - Gilded amber, tiare, golden sandalwood, vanilla, cardamom, tagetes

Tissue (LE) - Rice paper, white gardenia, and raw honey.

The Gaoler's Daughter (LE) - Gardenia, neroli, and white peach with vanilla amber, cream, and honey.

Lady of Shalott (GC) - bold gardenia, crystalline musk, muguet, water blossoms, clear, slightly tart aquatic notes and white ginger.

I've not tried Sweet Life (Retail Exclusive) but that one has gardenia, pikaki, ylang ylang, and Casablanca lily.

I generally like jasmine, but the jasmine the lab uses usually doesn't work so good on my skin, I've only had a few winners. One that comes to mind you might look into is Monster Bait: biggerCritters (LE)- Five vanillas with Moroccan jasmine, white gardenia, and pink grapefruit. It's a bit hard to find, but I see it pop up sometimes.

Tuberose:

My favorite is Echo (LE) - vanilla orchid, amyris, white sandalwood, grey amber, and tuberose, but it is a bit difficult to find.

One last one is In Winter in My Room (LE) - grapefruit, yuzu, tuberose, peony, violet leaf, pikaki, Indian frankincense, and tonka.

A lot of these are LE's but if you create a Wanted post for any that sound good to you, it's likely you'll find at least a few.