Jump to content
Post-Update: Forum Issues Read more... ×
BPAL Madness!

HamletsKeeper

Members
  • Content Count

    689
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by HamletsKeeper

  1. HamletsKeeper

    Limited editions equivalents in the general catalog?

    ??? The notes for Suck It are: Suck It (2009 Halloweenie LE): Sexy and suckable: black cherry brandy. Or did you mean that on your skin they both smell of dandelion, red currant, and honey? No, I meant I misread something and got confused. I was just about to come here and change my post but too late....I look like a noob...
  2. HamletsKeeper

    Limited editions equivalents in the general catalog?

    Is it just me or are Suck It & Fairy Wine essentially the same thing? Both have Dandelion, red currant and honey as their notes.
  3. HamletsKeeper

    Looking for a BPAL that Resembles a Favorite Perfume

    Honestly Rapture smelt of Anais, Anais on me even though they share no notes in common. Rapture smelt nothing like roses at all, but that could be my skin chemisty. Still worth a try it has that same soft, petally feel about it. Anais Anais: orange blossom, lily, hyacinth, carnation, sandalwood, incense Try Zarita the Doll Girl, orange blossom, iris, carnation and sugared cream Masquerade, orange blossom, carnation, ambergris and patchouli (I think this will be darker though) Three Brides, Moroccan rose, king mandarin, red sandalwood, Egyptian amber, orchid, carnation, benzoin, tonka, calla lily, vanilla flower. (More sophisticated version)
  4. HamletsKeeper

    Looking for a BPAL that Resembles a Favorite Perfume

    Maybe Try.... Tombstone A rugged, warm blend of vanilla, balsam and sassafras layered over Virginia cedar. Very dry scent. No 93 Engine Balm of Gilead, benzoin, frankincense, balsam of peru, beeswax, saffron, galbanum, calamus, hyssop, mastic, lemon balm, and white sage. More herbal & spice. Dee His scent is soft English leather, rosewood and tonka with a hint of incense, parchment and soft woods. Refined leathers and polished woods. Kubla Khan Through sunlit caves of ice, roses unfurl amidst dancing waves of serpentine opium smoke and amber tobacco, golden sandalwood, champaca, tea leaf, sugared lily, ginger, rich hay absolute, leather, dark vanilla, mandarin, peru balsam, and Moroccan jasmine. Rugged leather. Crowley Infernal musk, red patchouli, lilac cologne, mahogany, lemon rind, oakmoss, leather, and vanilla husk. More complex Dee. Prurience red amber and scorched musk with voluptuous carnation, charred vetiver, sensuous tonka, and orris. Dry, lush and sensual. Two Monsters Oakmoss, vetiver, black musk, champaca flower, leather, patchouli, ginger, Japanese pittosporum, ambergris and white pepper. Seems to morph on various people.
  5. HamletsKeeper

    Which oils say, cool detached authority?

    Testing out scents is sooo exhausting, especially when you've got to source them all from the forum. But so far I've managed to get my hands on Lyonesse and Death On A Pale Horse. Lyonesse is a beautiful scent, just not my style. Ambergris amps on me and end up with driftwood and vanilla but no lily or other exotic yummies which are in it. Its lovely on still but is like a mens cologne, akin to aramis. Not feminine enough for me. Death On A Pale Horse I really like. The only way I can describe it, is that it's like a frozen margarita. I don't mean it smells boozey, more that it's icy cold and has that same sharp tang that burns your throat when you scull spirits. Not that I would know all about that mind you.... It's a super-cold aquatic scent that I love but a little too cool for work. More ice-queen than I want to go. I will bathe it in all summer long though, and I'm certain I'll have my grim reaper days at work too. I've yet to come across an imp of Manhattan, but I'm a little worried as the leather in Kubla Khan became dominant and I ended up smelling like freshly polished shoes, all wax and leather.... I'll persevere though..
  6. HamletsKeeper

    Moss soap scent?

    I don't know the soap you are talking about but Lyonesse is to me a very airy moss scent. It's like silver-green moss smell about it. The ambergris gives is that damp tinge. It also has star gazer lily and dries down with a lovely sweet vanilla. Of all the ones I've smelt it sounds to be the best fit for what you are describing.
  7. HamletsKeeper

    Rose Recommendations - which blend is for me?

    Those are some nice outside the box recs thanks. I can't imagine how I missed both Jezebel and Wicked which sound like something I would entirely like anyway. I don't think sweet will be a problem either. Of these recs I've tried Deep In Earth which is just all dirt on me. Sadly I don't enjoy BPALs dirt note which has strange memory associations for me so I won't be trying Zombi.
  8. HamletsKeeper

    Rose Recommendations - which blend is for me?

    Ok, so someone just frimped me what has to be the best scent ever! It's LE and not to be found anywhere except in the odd decant. It's just not cost effective for me a buy a decant plus intl shipping. It's... Her Voice While not a strictly rose scent I absolutely adore this scent in the wet phase which on me is perfect pink roses on the bush with dew. I can smell the rose, the water, the leaves and grass. So what I'm looking for is a pungent, dewy, green rose. I've read all the reviews for this scent, the entire thread of GC - LE equivalents and now this thread and haven't found a rec for anything that smells like Her Voice. Pls help..... Now rose scents I've already tried that were an absolute failure.... Rapture - no roses at all just jonquils....wtf? 2,5,7 - I haven't tried it but all the MTP scents I have tried have been absolutely vile, so not willing to either. Queen Mab - I swear this was distilled water in a bottle because it had ZERO scent on me. Not even a tiny whiff of anything....so disappointed about that. Other notes which are anathema to me....patchouli (now known as the anti-christ), ambergris amps until I have mens cologne, incense. Musk, except arabian musk and a very light white musk, otherwise it's all wet rodent on me. Spice. Leather and smoke, they amp until I smell like a bag store. Other notes which are heaven on me....amber (vanilla goodness no powder) benzoin, all woods, honey. Have not tried actual vanilla yet. Any florals except cereus and possibly moonflower. Calla lily tends to become a single note scent on me. Frankincense, myrhh & opoponax. Green scents. After reading this thread I've decided to try.... Pontarlier The Rose Moon Rose - this will conclude whether moonflower is that rotten melon note I've been smelling. Pride Persephone Rose Cross Endymion - sounds similar to my current favourite, Les Bijoux I'd love to find a rose scent with a similar character to Her Voice, any help you can give would be wonderful. Or if you happen to have a bottle of Her Voice you don't want.....just wishful thinking there...
  9. HamletsKeeper

    Ogun

    Bottle Sniff Cedarwood and conifer needles. Tall alpine forrest scent. Wet Predominantly woody on my skin with something warm and slightly spicey giving it texture. Reminds me very much of a xmas potpourri that my mother used to buy. Although I wouldn't say it smells like potpourri at all. Drydown I'm liking this although something about it is overly xmassy to me. Cloves! Thats what I'm smelling, cloves. Add some orange to this and you've got xmas ornaments. I know it doesn't have any cloves in it, so it must be the combination of gin and chilli pepper that I'm smelling here. Overall I'd wear this scent but only at xmas time as it reminds me ridiculously of that, I doubt I will buy a full bottle of it though.
  10. HamletsKeeper

    The Feast For The Greatly Revered Ones

    Bottle Sniff Cocoa & cassia, woody, bitter and spicey. Wet Whoa Green & Blacks Mayan Gold Chocolate. Dry with a slightly bitter edge. Quickly morphs into straight cassia bark on me. Not sweet enough to be cinnamon. Drydown Cassia bark on the floor of the amazonian jungle. The cocoa has long since deserted this party and left poor old cassia on it's own, lost and stranded in the wilderness, floating in a puddle of muddy water. Not really complex enough to be a scent. Kind of like the aroma of a hot chocolate, extremely fleeting leaving only this vaguely cinnamon wood.
  11. HamletsKeeper

    The Queen of Hearts

    Frimped again, just as well since I wanted to try this as the King of Hearts didn't work out for me. Maybe I'll have better luck here. Bottle Sniff Cherries, just cherries Wet Cherry disinfectant. It seriously smells like something they'd clean dental equipment with. Oh now, now I'm smelling dental cotton wads and my mouth is going dry. Drydown Lily has made an appearance to now complete the picture with the handwashing basin in a dental office and soap. Sorry but I guess cherry will never be anything except medicinal for me. It dies pretty quick on me but the damage has been done leaving me with a single note lily that just smells of soap. I'm seriously not having any luck with Mad Tea Party scents.
  12. HamletsKeeper

    Her Voice

    This was frimped to me and now I'm devastated to discover it's an LE and I can't buy it... It has to be one of, if not THE best scent I've sniffed to date. Bottle Sniff Fresh pungent roses on the bush with dew. These are pure pink roses with glossy bottle green leaves. I can smell the flowers, the stems, the grass around it and even a touch of earth still cold from the spring night. Heaven. Wet That rose just lingers and lingers, not seeming to morph much at all. I've never been a rose scent person but this one I want to bathe in. I am over time able to pick out the amber, lily of the valley and carnation. It's slowly becoming more green and white floral. Still lovely though. Drydown Settles into a pungent and strong green and white floral. I adore it still and catch the roses just floating on the surface. At a glance you'd say it was pink roses, on closer sniffing the other flowers become apparent. Amber must be my heaven-scent as it always smells gorgeous and vanilla without the sugar. It never goes powdery on me or sweet. I just want to poke my own eyes out that I didn't discover this scent while it was still around...
  13. HamletsKeeper

    Calico Jack

    Bottle Sniff Cologne not unlike CK One. I get something minty, salty and slightly woody. More masculine than androgynous. Wet Salt & wood to high heaven with cologne backdrop. Now morphing into a lavender like scent without any sweetness of lavender. Drydown Salty grey woods. It's ambergris without the ambergris if that makes sense. And I detect a slightly tea tree like overtone to the whole thing. Oh yeah, it's gone tea tree and eucalyptus on me. Highly reminiscent of many popular "bush" salves and balms, this one is far too much like the Australian bush for my liking. It just makes me think of bottle brushes, scrubby grevillea's and the occasional bit of mascerated wood on a rocky path. It may be exotic if you don't live in Australia....
  14. HamletsKeeper

    Hairy Toad Lily

    Bottle Sniff Bruised granny smith apples. Wet Bruised apples left in the sun on a hot day now morphing into a flower, Oh it's a lily. Drydown If you like single note scents then this is a good strong lily, a little green, a little watery, a little dry in the way chardonnay is dry. I think I like it, would wear it on a hot sunny day when I go to the beach and wear a soft white cotton maxi-dress. It's a floral that doesn't go to powder or get cloying or sweet. Neither is it bitter like some white florals can be. Just crisp and clean and obviously a flower scent. Very nice...
  15. HamletsKeeper

    Queen Mab

    Bottle Sniff Fresh cut flowers, juicy, green and slightly fruity. Promising. Wet Generic handcreme. Oh, oh, what happened to this scent? It has almost no smell at all. Like the traces of a supermarket handcreme, just slightly green. Drydown It has disappeared completely. Even if I inhale my forearm I can smell nothing at all. I swear there is no exaggeration here. I can literally not smell any difference between the patch with this scent on it, applied heavily twice and my clean skin. Maybe I naturally smell like Queen Mab....? This is weird.
  16. HamletsKeeper

    Kubla Khan

    Bottle Sniff Butterscotch-menthol cough drops. Wet Butter-menthol cough syrup. Oh here comes the tea and leather to make it slightly cologney. Drydown Leather and what must be opium smoke take over coming to the fore. No more cough drops. This scent is disappearing into my skin and what I can smell isn't terribly exciting. Kind of like leather goods sitting next to a BBQ. The ginger did it's brief antiseptic thing on me, so no I've got sterile leather. The exotic elements of this scent just don't come alive on my skin at all I applied a little more and now it smells like freshly polished leather shoes. Big no for me.... I will just say though that I mixed this up into a spray for my mother and sprayed it into the air. Now I get a wonderful sweet exotic oriental scent. What I wanted to smell the first time around. I smell the rich dark vanilla & peru balsam heavily touched with spices and the tiniest amount of smokey leather. Obviously it doesn't become that on my skin though. If you can pull off these notes you should try this scent as I think it would be heaven.
  17. HamletsKeeper

    Death on a Pale Horse

    Bottle Sniff Mint, thyme and pine bark in that order. Although I actually think it's the yuzu and something else which is giving the pine bark smell here. Very alpine. Wet Sharp and bitter just like a scythe. Something oddly coniferous green that then rounds out to pine needles. It's like ice water up your nostrils in the refreshing effect it has. Drydown I know this is the yuzu but still I keep thinking pine needles, it's that kind of waxy bitterness. Even though these scents are all astringent it's not at all like cologne. Much lighter, sharper and clearer. Kind of like the different between stainless steel and glass. Both are sharp and cut but one is heavy and earthy while the other is air. This is the air of astringent scents. It's now settling into a white wood and citrus\mint scent that I quite like. I cannot wear patchouli at all but it seems to be entirely absent in this blend, likewise there is absolutely no smoke from vetiver either. I'm loving this one. This is going to be my high-summer scent when I want to smell like an icy mint julep or something else frozen and highly alcoholic. It doesn't smell alcoholic or boozey at all, it's just crystal clear and sharp like the burn you get from tequila or vodka. Very high mountain stream trickling through patches of snow kinda thing. Big bottle coming right up. Revisted - now I know why I love this scent. It's almost identical to Oberon which I have. Oberon is slightly woodier but they both come off on me as evergreen scents of a very similar type. I smell no lavender at all in Death, it's all evergreen and crisp air. Oberon is Juniper and crisp air.
  18. HamletsKeeper

    Lyonesse

    Bottle Sniff Mens cologne which I've come to realise is Ambergris & Moss. So this is a predominantly ambergris blend. Wet More cologne that smells very much like Aramis or something similar. At this point it is a 100% male scent for me. Nothing slightly androgynous about it. Drydown I like this, but I'd love it on a man. It's a beautiful scent just far too masculine for me to wear. Very clean, silver-green scent for me. I smell no vanilla whatsover and it's a strongly sea-misty type of scent. This scent makes me think of velvety dry grey-green moss on beach pebbles. It's all elegant greys and silver-greens. Perfect for any man who doesn't like BPAL as I think it smells very mainstream and beautiful. I think it's a perfectly elegant scent and safe gift for a man. I would permanently plant my nose into the neck of any man who wore this. Gorgeous. Note - on extreme drydown the vanilla is making an appearance slightly warming this up but it's still predominantly silver-grey velvet to me.
  19. HamletsKeeper

    Rapture

    Bottle Sniff This is all soft naricissus in the bottle which must be the roses and musk intertwined, as all I can smell is jonquils and something akin to anais anais. Wet It immediately explodes onto my skin as a soft, sweet floral that oddly smells nothing like roses at all. Again all I get is jonquils. I love that smell too but continue to wonder why such a heavy rose scent smells absolutely nothing like roses. Musks, I've come to realise smell incredibly animalic on me and Arabian musk has a tiny drop of that furry animal thing about it. Yet it mellows on my skin so much that it must be one of the mildest musks around. It is very warm and almost sweet, so if you can't usually wear musk you might be able to wear this Arabian musk. Drydown This scent is very powerful on me, as I only got the tiniest amount on my skin that leaked from the imp and it smelt strong. So if you have similar skin chemistry and want a loud, long lasting one this might work for you. It's sweet without being sugary and is a pretty floral bouquet. I still don't smell any rose at all, just a non-descript flower smell. I like this scent but it doesn't grab me a great deal. It has a soft glow about it, rather than an edge.
  20. HamletsKeeper

    Marquise de Merteuil

    Ahhh, such sweet serenity. Bottle Sniff A full, fleshy ripe peach and something slightly sharp under neath. But a golden glow encompasses this scent. Wet Glorious blended perfume. You can tell it's peach but it's like a swarovski peach, all sparkles and spangles reflecting light in all directions. It's juicy and perfect, not a bruise or blemise upon it. The galbanum is like a small fruit knife on the side razor sharp and if the vetiver is there at all I cannot smell it. Drydown There is a honey-like note shiny through now which I imagine is the amber it turns only slightly sweet and allows the fruit to explode into a bouquet of flowers. I can smell jonquils and what I think may be lily. Overall it's a gentle yet sophisticated scent, much more delicate than the description would imply. Its all grace on my skin and not even a hint of "bitchiness" which I expected. Clearly the Marquis is far more subtle at her craft than I have given her credit for. Revision: I like to revisit a scent especially if I found it amazing first time around. So this is my 2nd wearing and I have to say it doesn't hold the punch for me that it did the first time. It's still a crystalline peach but lacks the juicyness and fleshiness I like in perfume fruits. It's kind of brittle with jonquils on the side. Amber is by far the most dominant note in this blend for me and that makes the whole thing smell like vanilla. Vetiver has left the building unfortunately so I'm finding this morphing into a slightly tart but sweet scent. I don't like it as much as Les Bijoux which keeps the fruit fresh and the scent deep. Oh poo! On extreme drydown it's vanilla cinnamon sugar that a peach walked past. Another failure for me.
  21. HamletsKeeper

    The Caterpillar

    Ok so this was the one scent I was truly hoping would work on me and I couldn't be more crushed. I have found my BPAL note of doom, and it's name is patchouli. It has a unique ability on my skin to smell like a mixture of diesel and fecal matter. Alternately wafting between a sump and a septic tank. It breaks my heart to describe any scent with that description but there just isn't anything else that could describe what it does on my skin. Please note that I am certain this effect is my skin chemistry and not the blend itself, but if your skin hates patchouli then be warned this blend isn't for you. Bottle Sniff Deep dark incense and something slightly furry animal about it. It doesn't list musk but it may be in the "incense" part of it, as I recognise the note. Wet Patchouli doing it's evil patchouli thing on my skin. The scent is loud and has massive staying power. It's clinging on for dear life. Drydown Ok the patchouli does actually calm down on drydown but it's still all incense on me and that evil fuel\sewerage thing keeps rearing it's ugly head. Unfortunately the patchouli is so strong that all the jasmine, bergamot, carnation etc is non-existant. Overall this is an incense\patchouli blend with floral hints. If you love that kind of thing and patchouli isn't the anti-christ on you then this would be a good fragrance to try. I'll just go cry in a corner now....
  22. HamletsKeeper

    Oberon

    Orchid, white musk, and bergamot wafting over juniper berries, with a gentle touch of soft, earthy patchouli. Bottle Sniff Something watery green and vaguely detergent-like. Just like a rain scented body wash. Wet Juniper berries and a hint of musk. Nothing else really comes out at this stage. Drydown More Juniper than floral, it has a cool crisp edge. If there is bergamot in here it must be very extremely restrained because I can't catch a whiff of it at all. No citrus whatsoever present. I can't really detect any individual notes with this one its just a clean scent. Average wear length and low throw, it would be a sports scent for a woman and an everyday scent for a man. Edited to revise: Ok so I have since discovered that Patchouli is my bpal nemesis and yet I really like this blend. The patchouli doesn't make an appearance at all. This scent smells like a fragrant wood to me. Wood as in a lump of it, not a forrest. A bit like cedar, a bit like sandalwood, although it's definately got a conifer thing going on. Good scent if you want something alpine but don't want actual pine. The more I wear it, the more I like it. I wanted to get a woody scent and I think I've found it. Ironic considering it has no wood in it. I think it's the juniper berries, my skin loves fruits and this one is a woody fruit. Nice bottle of win.
  23. HamletsKeeper

    Long Night Moon

    Bottle Sniff - over ripe canteloupe, the fermented juice now laced with some sort of wet rodent. I simply cannot imagine how something with such a ferret edge came from flowers.... Wet - in a desperate attempt to make this better I applied it to my skin. It's gotta get better right? The wet-ferret is now a slightly warm wet-ferret and is wafting it's musk all over me. Oh dear God, p-l-e-a-s-e let this get better soon. Dry - well it's much improved. All traces of canteloupe are gone, replaced with a bouquet of night blooms. Their scent is like nectar, thick and sticky. The musk is quite heavy but I think it's the "blue" part which is still objectionable. Aquatic musk just doesn't work on me. Instead of being warm animalistic & sexy, it becomes damp & fetid. Sometimes it smells ok but there is this insidious waft of something which makes me crinkle my nose in a not good way. Note - I just realised I have tried this on my cycle and in all fairness will revisit this scent in a couple of days to see if things change. There is something very likable in this scent and I wonder if that weird note I am smelling is hormonal. Revisited - well blue musk must be similar to white musk because I tried a white musk scent today that had that same icky thing about it. Although now my hormones have calmed down they are not doing that wet-ferret thing quite so much and once the scent has dried down it's gone completely. Even so, I'm still not sure I can wear this scent well. It smells like drowned flowers, their scent is subdued and diluted rather than enhanced by the blend. There's a cucumber-like note that just seems to overpower everything and those flowers are not at home with that cucumber thing at all on my skin. One keeps fighting the other. Still all is not lost because I know someone for whom this scent may work.
  24. HamletsKeeper

    Looking for a BPAL that Resembles a Favorite Perfume

    If you like Marc Jacobs Daisy, try Les Bijoux. It has a very similar feel you may appreciate.
  25. HamletsKeeper

    Les Bijoux

    There is an old heritage apple called Lady In The Snow which I adore. It's small and plum-like, blood red all over and whiter than white on the inside. It's crispy crunchy and super juicy when you bite into it and the flavour is a little tart and quite perfumey. Les Bijoux is this apple. Bottle Sniff smells like a bottle of botrytis semillion, the honey is very apparent and it's the same honey in Flower Moon. Tart and filled to the brim with orchard blossoms. Wet Fruits come to the fore and there's a hint of soap in the very first blush of the fragrance which quickly dies down to reveal herbaceous goodness with just a tiny hint of sweetness in the background. Dry The green leafy aspects of this scent are dominating, I get flower stems crushed into honey and gradually the fruits find their way to the top of the bouquet again. On the extreme drydown I get a pleasant effect. The first breathe of the perfume is all apple but the more you smell it and the more you pick up honey and flower stems. Its a golden green scent like the colour of paler citrine gems. It reminds you of apple without actually smelling exactly like an apple or fake apple scent. This is a HUGE bottle of win for me and is now my official everyday scent. It has wonderful wear length on me, envelopes me in a pleasant cloud of orchards in summer. Fresh, slightly tart and dry with a golden base. So glad I've already got a big bottle of it on the way.
×