Altaira

Not gasoline, but my initial reaction to No. 93 Engine was "the cleanest car mechanic, anywhere.' It smells like someone has been working on cars all day and then scrubbed up with lava soap. I bought a bottle

I know a lot of you don't like powdery scents but I love them, the more powdery the better. I've been away from BPAL for awhile, but I remember Whoso List to Hunt was nice and powdery. Can you suggest some more for me to try?

One of the things to remember about the 'powdery' affect is that it is aften caused by personal skin chemistry. For instance, anything with honey or black musk, and most things with sugar notes go powdery on me. But that doesn't mean they are powdery scents, just that my skin reacts weirdly with them.

Also, I've noticed so many bpal vanillas are paired with honey. That's a no no for me! Only equals baby powder and that is definitely NOT sexy! haha (IMO)

Ever since I changed birth control, honey smells like baby powder on me too Can you wear beeswax? It doesn't have the problems of honey on my skin. I ask because Lights of Men's Lives is a lovely wax/vanilla/light musk scent that you might like. Not foody at all. It's GC so you can get imps of it.

ETA: Also, check out Death Cap. Yes, it goes on smelling of dirt and mushrooms, but after about 20 mins it turns into a warm vanilla. I find it very much like Lights of Men's Lives after dry-down actually, and wish it stayed smelling like the forest floor!

A fougere is a traditional masculine cologne blend. Not sure what makes it white.

I like White Rabbit quite a bit. It is smooth and comforting to me. And for what it's worth, I can't wear Dorian at all: sickly sweet vanilla with headache-y cologne on top.

If you can wear foody scents, I would go with something like Eat Me, rather than a tea scent to match the picture. The scents with tea in them are mostly more refined and that picture has more of a country cottage look to me.

A mod will probably move this, but http://www.bpal.org/topic/9995-the-lowdown-on-incense-resin-the-best-recommendations/ is the thread you are looking for.

I've never been able to smell pumpkin in Samhain. Fir is the main scent on me.

A sweet swapper frimped me Ü Mütter Museum and I fell head over heals in love with it. It's the woodsy-but-not-pine scent I've been looking for. And OF COURSE it's hard to find. Yep, of course it is.

 

No recommendations for you, as I haven't tried it myself. but it's not all that hard to find.

The Mütter Museum still has it up on their site http://www.muttermuseumstore.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=MutterMuseumStore&Product_Code=000025&Category_Code=CUST for $25

I'm loving Neutral as a summer scent. The skin musk smells clean and it has just a hint of floral (rose?) to it that I really love.

Have you tried Yellow Jessamine Honey? It's frankly terrible on me, but I hate jasmine. Pretty much straight up jasmine + honey and GC so you can get imps.

Although, I do like the labs bourbon vanilla. I think that's because I don’t really smell the bourbon at all in it.

This is a common misperception. Bourbon Vanilla is a type of vanilla plant, there is no bourbon in it to smell.

Buttery smells generally make me queazy, so I can't help with your main question.

 

Thank you, Cali. That does sound really intriguing; come to think of it, a couple others in the Arkham collection sound like they might be good contenders too:

 

Cthulhu: A creeping, wet, slithering scent, dripping with seaweed, oceanic plants and dark, unfathomable waters.

R'lyeh: The sunken city of the Great God Cthulhu. A hellishly dark aquatic scent, evocative of fathomless oceanic deeps, the mysteries of madness buried under crushing black waters, and the brooding eternal evil that lies beneath the waves.

 

Much obliged; the gears are turning.

I recently tested R'lyeh for the first time and then orded a bottle! I really love it, but it is not at all dark or evil on me. Instead, it is a very happy summer scent that smells like a beach: salty air and warm breezes.

But then, I also really like Elli's Song from the Last Unicorn collection wich is described as "The horrors of entropy, death, and decay: desiccated black mosses, vetiver, olibanum, patchouli, and ashes." And my reaction is: bonfire at the beach; warm and comforting. So clearly my brain has some crossed wires.

I love beeswax scents, as mentioned on a previous page. But while I love the scent of honey, the BPAL honey note generally smells like baby powder on my skin.

Chocolate scents also go powdery, so imagine my surprise when I tested an imp of CENTZON TOTOCHTIN ( Bittersweet Mexican cocoa with rum, red wine, and a scent redolent of sacrificial blood). It smells exactly like dark, spiced honey on me. Something about the booze and the chocolate come together in an accord that really works where the actual note has failed.

Soooo. Does anyone have any ideas for perfumes similar to the perfume by Orla Kiely? Here is the description, "A charming fragrance of light floral notes, with natural extracts of rose, geranium and bergamot, subtly balanced with fresh fig and a hint of chocolate." Thanks!

 

ETA: Here is more info I found! Top notes: green tea, peach, fig and bergamot. Heart: rose, white flowers, geranium, chocolate and osmanthus. Base: musk, tonka bean, cedar and sandalwood.

I've never smelled Orla Kiely, so I don't know if this is a match at all, but the description reminded me of The Last Unicorn. "Frosty lilac petals, iris pallida root, orris, violet leaf, white chocolate, coconut, wild lettuce, white sandalwood, and oakmoss."

On me, the florals and oakmoss give The Last Unicorn a somewhat 'traditional' perfume scent, while the chocolate and coconut ground it and make it very lightly sweet.

The myrrh scent I wear most often is "But Men Loved Darkness Rather Than Light" from the 2009 Yules. "Hekaerge" from the most recent Lupercalias was mostly myrrh on me, but my husband thinks it has an unlisted lily note because of his allergic reaction to it.

Neither The School or Candles Moon worked for me. Or even smelled very much like beeswax.

My notes for The School say "there is a lot going on here. perhaps too much as my nose is a bit overwhelmed. dusty wood and pine forests are strongest to me, with a distinct peppery note. a bit cologne like on drydown. interesting, but I think to muddled for me."

And for Candles Moon I have "This sounded awesome, but ended up smelling very cologne-y on me."

So my question is this: what other blends have beeswax, but not necessarily honey (or very little of it)?

For what it's worth, honey smells like baby powder on my skin, but beeswax stays true. So you're not the nly one to have different reactions between the two.

For recs, everyone has said Lights of Men's Lives, and I have to agree. Other than that, No. 93 Engine is the only other in the general catalog I have come across, and you have found that for yourself.

Some LE's you might want to track down:

Luperci: raw, down and dirty patchouli, Gurjam balsam, and essence of Sampson Root sweetened with the heightened sexuality of beeswax, virile juniper, oakmoss, ambrette seed over honey and East African musk. (very sexy and a bit masculine)

Saint Foutin de Varailles: Beeswax, frankincense, dried rose petals, and a dribble of wine. (this was very 'berry candle' when fresh, but has aged great - if you like rose)

Time does not Bring Relief: Parma violet and leather accord with beeswax, Egyptian musk, orange blossom, white tea, lavender, myrrh, and copal. (smells like Lights of Men's Lives + violet)

I always feel like a badass when I wear The Black Rider.

"Black leather, oppoponax, tobacco, and black amber."

I also really like the LE from a couple Yules ago But Men Loved Darkness Rather Than Light for business situations.

"cistus labdanum, ginger, East Indian patchouli, pimento berry, oakmoss, saffron, smoky vanilla, sage, myrrh, and bitter clove."

Autumn in Winter from this past Yule is another very autumn-y. Dry fallen leaves with frigid cold just around the corner, but not here yet. Unfortunately, it also has an unlisted lily note and my husband is very, very allergic. So, it was a no-go for me.

Autumn in Winter and the Autumn Grove atmosphere spray from the Trading Post are the only blends that I have confirmed with the Lab about an unlisted lily note, but from my husband's reaction, it is in many 'fallen leaves' scents. Which is unfortunate, because actual fallen leaves are one of his favorite scents.

Can anyone suggest what would be similar to Potion? GC would be best, but anything would be great.

From descriptions, it looks like Potion is mostly carnation with some rose and clove. I really dislike carnation, so I don't have any recommendations, but the Lab has lots of carnation scents to choose from. There is a thread devoted to it: http://www.bpal.org/topic/21410-carnations/

What sort of notes and other perfumes do you like?

 

My current perfume lists these:

 

Head: Bergamots, orange, raspberry, fig leaf

Heart: Liquorice blossom, lily, barbe-a-papa, red fruits, strawberry

Base: Vanilla, candy, musk, tonka, sandalwood

 

I basically smell like a fresh-baked jelly donut with raspberry filling, with a hint of something musky underneath.

Try The Red Queen: "Deep mahogany and rich, velvety woods lacquered with sweet, black-red cherries and currant." After the strong cough syrup smell goes away (about 10 minutes) I think it smells just like raspberry squares.

Zombie Apocalypse isn't available anymore, but you might be able to find some on the forum: "Swirls of red jelly and sugary white ooze." Lots of people say it smells like a jelly donut. It's a bit too sweet for me.

And another comparison: to my nose, this year's Luper "Time Does Not Bring Relief" smells just like "Lights of Men's Lives" plus violet and lavender. Since I'm not big on florals, I prefer LoML (which I'm convinced has Egyptian musk in it, even if it isn't listed as a note).

There is a whole sub-forum on mixing oils into other things here: http://www.bpal.org/forum/8-beyond-perfume/

And there is info on allergic reactions here: http://www.bpal.org/topic/5002-allergy-questions-allergies-and-other-reactions-to-oils/

Hope that helps.

I haven't tried the perfume oil, but I just got my Anathesteria bath oil and it is the same wine as my beloved Zadok Allen Vinyard. No blood or incense, but the wine is the same.

ETA: Layer Anathesteria with Blood Kiss for a closer Zadok Allen match.

Hmm, I'll probably be skipping it in that case, and try one of the others you suggested instead. Dance of the Mirlitons sounds particularly appealing since vanilla is another scent I love - although Pahoehoe is sounding really good too. (I can see my wanted list expanding right before my eyes...) Thanks so much for the recommendations!

Dance of the Mirlitons was a LE from the 2010/2011 Yules, so it won't be available from the Lab any more, but you should be able to find some on the swaps/sales forum if you want to try it out.

And other people do get rum from Port Royal, but I tend to amp floral like crazy and even the tiniest bit of "perfume" scents drown out everything else. It really depends on what you think about floral perfumes and how they behave on your skin.

Are you looking for a first order?

What do you guys think of Port Royal in terms of it being a booze scent? I'm interested in trying it but am not completely sold yet.

I didn't get rum at all from Port Royal, just light woods at first - then the prostitutes perfume took over.

My favorite rum scent right now is Pahoehoe. It smells like bananas foster.

Aremata-Popoa, also from the Atomic Tiki Lounge, is a nice light rum on me.

Dance of the Mirlitons starts out well, like eating a rum-ball cookie in a polished wood room, but it dries down to a vanilla floral.