Altaira

Pretty much just light, sweet clove on me. Not sure how I feel about it. I'm not getting any of the blackcurrant, but I didn't test too long yet. I'm going to have to give this one a day to sort out my feelings and see what it does on long drydown.

I'm not really into meadow scents myself, but I've just tested my Last Unicorn imp pack and there are a couple that would fit in the category.

The Lilac Wood (Ageless trees, everblooming flowers, brilliant grass, and soft shadows.) is a very fresh spring scent. There are lilacs (obviously) with new grass and spring tree sap. You know how if you break a fresh branch (or scrape thin bark) in the spring it has that sharp note? That is in there rounding out the floral lilacs. Smells like birch bark to me. It is very fresh and natural. If I could wear fresh spring florals, I would wear this one. Unfortunately I'm a bit allergic and it makes me sneeze just like real lilacs.

The Butterfly (Fuzzy brown tonka bean, golden amber, bergamot, and petitgrain.) is a late summer/early fall meadow. When the sun is warm, the grass is dry and flowering, and the pollinating insects are out in force. Long lazy days before harvest time. I like this one quite a bit and it doesn't cause an allergic reaction

Fuzzy, brown and dry, indeed! The Butterfly reminds me of dry late summer meadows. When the sun is warm, the grass is dry and flowering, and the pollinating insects are out in force. Long lazy days before harvest time.Faintly sweet and comforting.

I'm going to have to test it longer with fewer scents around to get a full impression, but it is a keeper so far.

The Lilac Wood is very evocative: warming air filled with lilacs and spring sap when you scape back new bark. It isn't perfumey, just natural flowers and plants. The sap (birch bark?) gives it a bit of a sharp bite to round out the flowers and grass. It is very fresh, very pretty, and very not me.

Wow...Aureus, to me, is one heavy duty patchouli wallop - I wouldn't call it light at all! Funny how different fragrances are on different people.

Very true, I don't get patchouli at all in Aureus, just warm cedar hope chest smell. Patchouli has to be very heavy for me to notice it at all; although I know it is a problem for many people.

On the flip side, Calivianya said in the OP that Black Opal and Dorian were scents she considered light, and they are both screamingly, unbearingly loud on me. It's not the vanilla, it's a masculine cologne scent that overpowers them both on me. I do agree the The Lights of Men's Lives is very light. It reminds me of a waxy Mr. Ibis actually.

Some of my favorite scents that I'd consider light are: Black Opal, Door, Dorian, La Petite Mort, and The Lights of Men's Lives.

I'm gonna recommend Mr. Ibis again (I seem to be telling everyone to get it lately!) it is a light musk that I can smell clearly while wearing it, but people only 3 feet away can't smell at all.

On me, O is actually quite light as well, although I know some people amp it.

Aureus is light and reminds me of a hope chest. Although a co-worker started sneezing whenever I would wear it...

Anubis is a light, somewhat sweet incense.

If you like melon, Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat is unobtrusive.

A recent Lucky Scent sample order has left me absolutely saddened that I cannot afford By Killian Back to Black, the first scent in a long while that I feel is absolutely perfect for me: vanilla, honey, and tobacco with a raspberry base that ends up smelling like an expensive amaretto liquor. So beautiful.

 

Any thoughts on a similar fragrance? I'd much rather give BPAL the money, so any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!!

Nothing exact, but some ideas:

GC:

O: Amber and honey with a touch of vanilla.

Horreur Sympathique: blood musk, golden honey, thick black wine, champagne grapes, tobacco flower, plum blossom, tonka bean, oakmoss, carnation, benzoin, opoponax, and sugar cane.

Countess Willie: Chocolate plum musk, red musk, amaretto, candied fruits, and red ginger.

Dionysia: Wild plum, pomegranate, raspberry, Siamese benzoin, plum blossom, patchouli, frankincense, and mahogany.

Bilquis: Honey, myrrh, lily of the valley, rose otto, fig leaf, almond, ambrette, red apple, and warm musk.

LE:

Autumn Moon of the Mirror Stand (LE Lupercalia 2010): Honey, quince, vanilla, white cognac, Spanish mandarin, and golden tobacco.

Anactoria (LE Lupercalia 2010): Golden amber, white honey, red currant, daemonorops, kush, and Arabian musk.

This is probably a bit of a long shot but is anyone familiar with this musk oil by colette(http://www.colette.fr/#/eshop/article/9124/colette-black-musk-oil/196/)? It's my favourite and I would love to find similar/overlapping scents at BPAL!

That page describes it as Egyptian musk. BPAL has a couple of blends with EM in them, but my favorite is Mr. Ibis: Papyrus, vanilla flower, Egyptian musk, African musk, aloe ferox, white sandalwood. It is my favorite every-day scent.

You might also want to try Lights of Men's Lives. The description just talks about candles, but it smells like EM and beeswax on my skin.

I can't believe I'm the first one nominating Floating Market. To me it's the smell of the Super 88 Asian grocery/food court in Boston. Herbs and curry and wasabi.

It's not the Super 88 without the smell of fish.

The weirdest to me so far is How Doth the Little Crocodile: chocolate mint and aftershave.

High Priest Not To Be Described. One of my husband's favorites. He is going to be so heartbroken when I tell him. Ironically, the one thing I remember smelling similar to it is... Loviatar. And now they're both gone.

When looking up reviews of past year's Valentine of Rome to see if I needed some from the new batch, I saw a few people comparing it to The High Priest Not to be Described.

The High Priest Not to be Described: Monastic incense, blood musk, black leather, cypress, pimento, white pepper, and Roman chamomile.

Valentine of Rome: Ecclesiastical incense, Roman flora, and the fruits of martyrdom: cypress, olive blossom, frankincense, myrrh, and blood accord.

Yay, a BPAL with tea that doesn't give me a spiting headache!

White Rabbit is clean, yet dirty and messy at the same time. The linen was pure and white, but it's not anymore. I find it to be a very comforting scent. Relaxing and warm.

The flowers are very strong and off-putting. I'm also getting a rancid note on my skin that I had associated with almond blends in the past. Since there isn't almond in this, I'm not sure what's causing it.

This is a light, somewhat masculine, rose cologne. Not my kind of thing.

Wine and berries. Reminds me of a sweeter, less sexy version of Zadok Allen Vinyard. I like this, and if I didn't already have a bottle of ZAV, I would get a bottle of this. But knowing ZAV... Lady MacBeth just doesn't quite measure up.

I love the Lab's mead note in Mead Moon and Hellcat. Any recommendations for other mead scents to try?

Delphi is one of my favorites.

I've tried 25 of the Yules so far, and most have been failures on me.

Which one embodies Christmas/Yule the most?

Yule. I'm surprised how much I like this. It is the only bottle I am considering from all the decants I've tried.

Best foody scent from this year's Yules?

A World of Fools. The other foody blends I tried were way too sweet. Although A World of Fools smells very similar to Snap Dragon Fly, which I already have a bottle of.

Best snowy/wintery scent?

So far, every snow scent I've tried smells like cologne.

Best scent that you'll enjoy wearing in warmer weather?

Bob Cratchit's Hearth. If this had a different name it wouldn't be out of place int he Atomic Luau collection.

What's this year's sleeper scent?

The Arabian Dance? I haven't tried it yet, but other's reviews tend to be positive.

And do you have an overall favorite yet?

Yule, as mentioned above. It really does smell like a battle between nature spirits in a dark, damp forest.

Fresh lavender that doesn't smell like cologne! That is a first for me with BPAL lavender blends. The other notes are present, but far in back of the lavender. It's pretty much all I smell, I'll need to test it further before making up my mind on this one.

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 too muddled for me.

Smells rotten in the imp. The grapes come out when it hits my skin, but there is something off-putting and old-ladyish about it, like weird moth balls. Ick.

Bitter wormwood is very strong when wet, but fades on drydown to let the carrot take center stage. Very vegetatative. The carrot stays in the foreground, but the other notes round it off. This gives the impression of planting in spring dirt. Its a very evocative scent, but I'm not sure it works as perfume.

Vanilla with mint and a bit of pine. Very faint on my skin. Not my thing.

A dry scent, with something almost aquatic giving it a faint cologne quality. Sweetens up on drydown. It's nice, but it is similar to other blends and doesn't stand out from the pack on me.

(2010 version)

Of the 25(!) Yules I have tried this year, this is surprisingly the first I am seriously considering a bottle of. I was expecting it to just be OK, but it it really, really awesome.

Yule has a berry sweetness mixed with dark greenery. I can really smell the thyme and the myrrh, with the rose just adding a bit of sweetness. The evergreen adds an almost minty top note, but there is a darker, deep woods feel to the blend. It is joyful and sweet yet somber dark at the same time. I really it!

Light and bright with a creamy sweetness underneath. The strong mint keeps it from being cloying. Do I detect a bit of vanilla as a base note? This really smells like a candy cane on me. I like the scent, but am not sure how much I'll actually wear it.

Wow! I absolutely love the idea of this thread. This my first time posting (and I only just came across BPAL today!) so I'm a complete newbie and have no suggestions to give anyone else Hopefully in the future I'll be able to come back and help others find some suitable perfumes for themselves though. For now, I'd really appreciate some help in finding a scent that would suit me It's so hard because there are so many options!

I'm also a somewhat shy pisces. A scent I have loved since I was a teen is Egyptian Musk. I think you would like Mr. Ibis (Papyrus, vanilla flower, Egyptian musk, African musk, aloe ferox, white sandalwood). It is the truest egyptian musk in the BPAL line that I have found. It is a light scent that stays close to the skin, so it doesn't call attention to itself. It's really pretty and comforting without being showy.

Not getting much, I can barely smell this at all. There is an aquatic quality and mossyness, but nothing really stands out. I certainly don't get any fire or smoke.