CiaoBonefish

Interesting. It smells really well... lovely to my nose, but extremely unusual. I definitely get the damn soil after rain scent, but it is definitely fresher and lighter than the word "dirt" implies. I get a touch of wood and floral, but mainly damp fresh soil with wood. Oddly enough I totally get the beet note MtMoonKitty was talking about! I don't think I'm adverse to it though.. It is fresher and greener than Zombi but definitely has a decaying type feel to it. Extremely evocative hmmmm. Very unusual but surprisingly lovely. I didn't know if I would like dirt scents, but this one is really wonderful. I'm not sure if I need a bottle, but I will definitely hold on to the decant! Also stays pretty close to the skin in an almost sinister ethereal way, if you know what I mean? Really great!

Wow. In the decant this is very sweet with lots of cardamom and chemical leather (like the one in the Traveller, it was chemically to me anywho). I didn't think this was going to work because my kind of leather note is the kind in Hand of Glory or Liz. This isn't that kind of leather. On my skin WOAH. Very sweet. Almost sickly sweet cardamom, which is probably the bourbon making it so sweet. Reminds me of this cardamom tea my mom drinks along with a splash of leather. No patchouli. It's a bit cinnamony but no one can mistake that cardamom scent. As it dries it becomes a bit less sweet, more smoky and spicy ish. The leather is still there being it's chemically self.... Grr. Final verdict. Sweet, smoky, spicy cardamom drowning chemical leather. Not my cup of tea, but I can see how others would like this. May have to try it again, but I'm just not a fan of cardamom or this particular leather note so I'll probably have to let it go.

I didn't really have many must haves because Lupercalia isn't usually a hard hitter for me when it comes to updates! Metal Rabbit (though I'm not sure if it is in the same category) is lovely and I have a bottle of that. SMUT ALWAYS WINS FOR ME, I love love love it and even still have some from last year. Other favorites though perhaps not bottle purchases for me were...

Womb Furie (this was just a little TOO sexy for me to justify a bottle purchase but WOW, just wow)

Time Does Not Bring Relief (lovely, lovely, but has a very Bensiabel feel on me)

Dark Chocolate, Fig, and Tamarind (Just glorious! Almost was a bottle purchase, but I never wear foody scents that often so I'm just keeping the decant)

Love's Philosophy smells like cream soda and vanilla ice cream on me; it's delicious!

Just tested a decant of Love's Philosophy I had lying around and you're right! Cream soda! I don't get any kind of sparkliness or fizziness from it though so that is a touch disappointing, but may be with a bit of layering... And now I'm on a hunt for Love's Philosophy...

This is lovely wet. I am getting beautiful juicy, sweet tangerine. A touch of currant which for some reason always appears a bit woodsy to my nose. The white musk is hidden, as is the tagetes. I don't really know what tagetes smell like so I went into this testing tagete-blind. Once this starts drying down the tangerine disappears... NOOOOO. Tangerine come BACK. PLEASE. I LOVE YOU SO. Drat. No more Tangerine. Something which I am assuming is the tagetes amps like woah. It smells like mehndi/henna. Very strongly of henna actually, and the dried henna that is left on your skin after some time. The tangerine is gone and I can't even smell the musk or currant anymore. It is just this weird henna blend... TANGERINE I MISS YOU.

SKIN CHEMISTRY FAIL. GAAHHHH.

Adding tagetes to a iffy death note may be list...

This is mainly toasted coconut on me and sandalwood with a touch of almond. I really am not fan of the Lab's coconut note and it turns into gross dishwater on my skin so this scent is a no on my skin. Very dry and just gross wet mop smell. Bleh. Me + coconut = NOPE.

I think I may have acquired an aged imp because this blend is very smooth and almost light on me. The musk, civet, and opium have just blended beautifully together. The opium isn't sharp or too smoky! The civet is extremely subtle. This is mainly just glorious egyptian musk on me. It is almost too faint on me. I'll have to get a fresh imp and test it then. It is nice, but I prefer other musky blends to this one. Imp will probably get rehomed as well!

Titania (white grape, white peach, iced pear, musk rose, sweet pea, moonflower and snapdragon) and Endymion (sweet, wistful blend of d’Anjou pear, Lily of the Valley, bois du rose and white musk) are both GC and really nice sparkling, shimmery, crystalline type pear scents if you know what I mean. Titania is a bit peachy and fruity in general though so it really just depends on your skin chemistry how much pear you get, but Endymion is really, really lovely! It does have a bit of a rose-y white musk feel to it as well, but it complements the rose nicely.

Just looked through my spreadsheet. Have not tried any of these but... You may also want to try Sunrise With Sea-Monsters (ocean mist, kelp, ambergris, amber, white pear, osmanthus, freesia, and seafoam accord) from the Salon. I have not tried it personally, but regardless of if the pear is dominant or not it is worth a shot. Symmakhia (vanilla, heliotrope, red sandalwood, pear, black lily, white wine grape, and white rose) could also be worth tracking down a decant of. May be even Diary of a Lovestruck Teenage Cannibal (clotted vanilla cream, pink pepper, grapefruit, blood lily, red ginger, English pear, and lemon-squeezed candyfloss!)?

Ok anyone have any recommendations for ICE CREAM SODA type blends? I suppose I just want elements of sparkling fizziness, sweetness (think sugary and may be a little syrupy but not nauseating), creamy (doesn't have to be quite like ice cream but a nice heavy cream or milk would be lovely, like the milk in Alice even?), and may be even a bit ethereal?

I know right? In my dreams, but may be something with at least a few of those characteristics? Help would be great!

Hand of Glory! The leather and beeswax is swoonworthy and smoky goodness.

Hellfire is all smoky sweet pipe tobacco on me, just amazing.

I sprung for a bottle of this without even testing it... I know... iffy for a Salon blend because they're a bit more expensive than other GC scents! I knew I would love it though, and I was right

This starts off wet as STRONG sugared sunflowers with a touch of black amber and "scorched" stems. Sunbaked is definitely a good word to describe it. The dark elements of the blend prevent the sunflower from getting too sweet and syrupy and sugary which I especially appreciate. Sweet scents can get nauseating on me. As this dries down the sweetness blends into the other notes and he amber steps forward. The overall effect is just beautiful. Sunflower, amber, sweetness, and the warm drying heat of the sun. A summer floral, but it isn't only a floral. It is evocative of a warm, dry, scorched even, plain filled with sunflowers at the peak of their bloom, with the sun glossing over everything gloriously spilling its golden glow! But it has a richness to it (thank you amber, moss, and stems!) that is slightly dark. This is Egon Schiele's Sunflower bottled to perfection.

Love. Love. Love. Made it to my top 10!

On me this starts off as all red musk, black tea, a bunt of creaminess, and a bit of a kind of foody anise type scent which I'm assuming is the pie! Wow. Wet this is absolutely gorgeous! The red musk doesn't dominate and the black pepper is not present at all really apart from grounding the scent. I love that because I'm not a huge black pepper note fan. There is a touch of creaminess I'm guessing due to the vanilla cream which really helps keeping the black tea note from getting bitter and the musk from taking over. Wet the anise type note is very present. At the dry down it remains pretty much the same but the anise type note has blended into the other notes leaving a sweet and only ever so slight anise feel behind. The blend is more grounded and overall just lovely. Smells like red musk, tea, and a bit of amazing creamy and completely unassuming licorice type scent which reminds me ever so slightly of pie... But all in a very NON foody and NOT heavy and NOT super overpoweringly sweet way! I wish I got some leather from this. If I did it would have been dead sexy! But unfortunately I don't get any whatsoever, regardless It's still wonderful! Very evocative and definitely my favorite Yule of the update. After reading reviews I was wary of the anise note, but it works so well here that I'm craving more!

ETA: 12 years later, and I still love this one! It's gotten richer and more gourmand which is the main difference from my original review. It's got this syrupy almost honeyed red musk and licorice pie vibe now and less tea. It CAN get a little cloying. I will only wear this in the fall and winter now, but man is it a stunner of a spicy gourmand.

I was really really excited for this one. I hoped it would be the best tea scent! It seems nice in the decant. A bit on the lemongrass side and the tea isn't quite as grounded as I like, but I hoped that would change on skin. On skin this is very... lemon-y.. but not in a good way. The lemongrass is really sharp and the black tea is off. It keeps reminding me of White Rabbit which makes me wonder if the tea notes are similar at all. The grains are also rather strange. Overall the individual notes are not behaving nicely on my skin. The lemongrass is too sharp, the grains are weirdly bitter, the ginger I can't really detect, and the tea note reminds me someone of White Rabbit which was terrible on my skin. Had to scrub this one off How upsetting. I had such high hopes! With select skin chemistries I can imagine though that this is probably wonderful.

ETA: Come to think of this, it is probably the ginger + black tea combination that reminds me so much of White Rabbit... and completely turns me off unfortunately.

Thanks for all the recs guys! I did a lab order with some imps that particularly interested me: Rosalind and Mag Mel. Also went ahead and jumped for a bottle of The Sunflower and waiting for a swap message from someone for the other Salon scents! I feel like I have neglected the Salon for far too long and want to go ahead and jump on that!

The Butterfly and The Lilac Wood also sound positively wonderful. High Strung Daisies was way too sweet on me unfortunately. My skin likes to amp the sweetness in scents (Like Faith and Hope were way too candied and custard like on me to the point of them being nauseating). Night-Gaunt, Hermia, and Pepper are definitely on my to try list now! Especially Pepper! 51 I am iffy about but I will try it eventually.

As to The Phoenix in Spring I already have a ISO out for that one with no luck so far. I didn't get a chance to grab a bottle before it came down off the website so yea.. rather unfortunate.

This tends to be my favorite recommendation thread so I thought I would bump it with a specific recommendation! Again I'm looking for a beautiful meadow scent. Cool grasses warmed by sunshine and light warm sweet florals. The Passionate Shepherd to his Love is my absolute favorite meadow scent along with Fairy Market. The problem is, both are either LE or discontinued! I have bottles of each but would love to branch out BUT REALLY ONLY IN THE GC CATEGORY. I don't want to track down bottles of scents I may love. I'd rather get an imp from the lab and see what happens!

So any suggestions for GC (preferably impable) meadow scents?

Here is a rundown of meadow type scents I have tried.

The Passionate Shepherd to his Love - absolute favorite, crisp grass warmed by sunlight and sweet florals (tea rose and carnation mainly)

The Host of the Air - Lovely and crip, but not warm enough and fades quickly. That being said I DO love this blend.

Fairy Market - Otherworldy ethereal market place with SUGARED INCENSE (one of the most wonderful notes of all time).

The East - Very pretty and flowery and a touch of grass thrown in for good measure, but not quite as ethereal as Fairy Market.

Enchanted Wood Florist - something in this (the sap I think) amped and urned very very very sweet on my skin. Like candied florals. Pretty but WAY too sweet for me.

Little Bird - Nice but too sharp and clean.

Caliban - green green grass and dew.

This was alllllll red musk on me! I mean it is softer but still it's just straight up red musk. Also smelled like a furrier less sweet Snake Oil on me. It's nice but not unique enough for me to keep. Outrageous throw and lasts forever! I wish I got some of the juniper but alas no. It would have given the scent so much depth!

For those of you who have tried The Phoenix in Spring how similar is it to The Host of the Air or The Passionate Shepherd to His Love or The Ghost (this smells surprisingly similar to The Passionate Shepherd to His Love on me which is odd but really just after the dry down)?

I would love another fresh meadow floral, but a warm crisp meadow green floral type scent. Like a meadow bathed in sun and sweet fresh little flowers?

When I first heard about this blend I WAS SO EXCITED TO TRY IT! Hand of Glory? Come on what an interesting concept, and the notes sounded lovely too.

In the decant this is sharp leather with beeswax. It's even a bit sour. Kind of off putting. After sniffing it in the decant I put it away to test for another time. A few months later (aka NOW) I pulled it out and it was very much the same scent I had smelled before, but it had grown a bit smoother and I was willing to test it now. Always test scents on skin! They change so much!

On skin it started off as that sharp leather and slightly sour beeswax. After a while the beeswax gets creamy and sweeter losing its sourness. The leather is still a bit sharp but it has smoothed out somewhat and become a bit peppery. A bit of a confusing smell. Kind of like peppery beeswax? BUT WAIT it has not finished drying down! At the drydown it is just LOVELY. The peppery-ness I was smelling before is gone and I'm left with lovely worn leather no doubt deepened and smoothed by the other notes in the blend. The beeswax has become MUCH creamier, kind of like vanilla beeswax just as Tailoredshirt mentioned in her review!

Glorious! I also wore this before I worked out and nearly swooned! Creamy beeswaxy vanilla with warm rounded out leather!!!! Reminds me of The Bow and Crown of Conquest plus sweet beeswax! (FYI The Bow and Crown of Conquest is all leather and vanilla on me, not much else)

Delicious and I will definitely need a bottle! I'm sure this will only improve with age

I too love plum! The question is should I order MIDWINTER'S EVE 2010 and/or SUGAR PLUM FAIRY?

What are your recommendations? Which one is your favorite and why?

I was wondering how the plums in those two scents compared! Also how other GC blends compared to them.

Some plum scents I've tried include...

Bathesheba - This was mainly musk on me!

Bordello - Pretty, bright plum

Mme. Moriarty, Misfortune Teller - Dark blend with musk and patchouli and a hint of plum, but not too much

Frumious Bandersnatch - One of my favorite plums! Musk, carnation, and plums! Delicious!

Countess Willie - Probably my favorite: ginger, musk, some chocolate, and glorious plum. Just lovely!

I really want to try Prunella, Kitsune-Tsuki, and Bensiabel next.

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 18 years old and I'm from Adelaide, Australia. I'm a pisces, and I absolutely identify with my zodiac! I am extremely sensivite, haha. I'm also very emotional, and very aware of my feelings and open about them.

 

I was studying a double degree of Teaching (high school) and Arts (major in English) this year, but will be transferring to Teaching (early education) and Disability studies next year, because I'd really like to work with younger children, particularly ones with special needs. I love helping people in general!

 

I absolutely love literature! I enjoy nothing more than losing myself in a good novel. The only thing that comes close to my love for reading, I guess, is my love for art. I love to paint and draw, and I'm constantly carrying around my sketch pad to waste time in between breaks at Uni. Gelati is my favourite good! Particularly hazelnut and coconut in particular.

 

I'm generally extremely shy, especially around people I don't know. Even if I know someone extremely well and I am comfortable around them, I'm often still extremely quiet (it's just in my nature). I love to laugh and have a good time, but usually that involves a quiet night in with a few people than a big night out with a lot of people. I'm often told I act very mature for my age, but in saying that I embrace my inner "child" and enjoy acting like a teenager while I still can. I have a pretty dry, sarcastic sense of humour that a lot of people don't get, but I think I'm hilarious I also love animals! My two dogs are my favourite 'people' in the whole world. I'm also very family oriented; I grew up in a big, Italian family and we're all extremely close. I am also known for my very long, dark red hair (unfortunately the red isn't natural ) and "quirky" fashion sense. I'm also not very interested in music, which all my friends assure me in very strange! haha

 

As for perfumes, I am absolutely HORRIBLE at recognising scents! But I do love them, even if I can't identify them. I love lighter scents, I think. I also love warming(?) ones, that remind me of winter (I love winter!) I love a lot of different floral smells, but I have no idea what they are haha. I suck, I know. I definitely don't like smells that are too over-bearing or smell kinda like alcohol (I don't drink/smoke/do drugs and I can't stand the smell of any of the above)

 

Any help with what scents I should try would be very much appreciated! Thanks guys xo

This thread makes me so happy! After reading your post stylesclash it really reminded me of Gennivre, L'artiste du Diable from Carnaval Diabolique! I think it's mainly because of your red hair and that you're an artist Also Gennivre seems pretty myserious which I think fits you pretty well too!

BUMPING THIS!

So I really want to enable the manfriend, and I figured this is a good place to start. He wants to smell like the ocean! He loves fishing and being out on the sea (fun fact: One of his biggest dreams is to be a sky pirate!) and I also think he would like pirate-esque scents. He wears Drakkar Noir currently which smells great on him but still... it's Drakkar Noir! He is also a bit of a clean freak and I asked him what kind of scents he liked and he said lighter ones. But I still want him to smell manly obviously... I think he'll love Jolly Roger and I already have a bottle of that coming for him, but any ocean type scent suggestions keeping everything I've said about him in mind?

Thanks!

What an interesting scent!

Wet and in the imp I get a particularly sharp tobacco leaf I believe with some bay rum. Not super appealing and definitely masculine. Wet on my skin it instantly starts to morph. The tobacco leaf starts edging its way into the background while the bay rum moves forward kind of balancing the blend. I still feel a sort of earthiness to the blend may be but it's sweet too. At dry down the caribbean blossoms start holding their own and the scent becomes perfectly balanced! WOW! This scent morphed really beautifully! A lovely blend of tobacco leaf, bay rum, and blossoms. That being said it took some time to get there for sure!

As it fades (which is surprisingly quickly) the caribbean blossoms become more present and add sweetness, but never really get overpowering but stay lush and warm. The scent description is RIGHT ON. It becomes surprisingly sensual, feminine, and light after the dry down as well. That being said it also does not last very long and stays REALLY close to my skin. The scent is gorgeous but I don't like the wet stages enough to justify getting a bottle, especially because the throw and wear time are so light on me! That being said I will definitely use up my imp!

For me:

I'm pretty introverted. I do warm up a bit with friends but often would rather be alone. I like to talk and think about serious things, like the next world, spiritual life, finding meaning in life, but I'm not intellectual or academic. I try to lighten up a bit and I do appreciate humor in other people. I draw and paint but am not a professional artist. I love tarot, renaissance illuminations, calligraphy, angels, indoor plants. I listen almost exclusively to opera and metal, especially the heavy, dark slow styles. I am very polite (a great defense) and try to be kind to other people but it is difficult sometimes. Beauty is important to me, both in the abstract sense and in trying to look my best. I often feel unsuccessful at this.

 

I have chin length curly dark brown/black hair and brown eyes, wear mostly black, grey, blue, dark magenta, jeans almost all the time with blouses or nice t-shirts and jewelry.

 

Any recommendations appreciated.

Hmm. I don't know why but I instantly though of Sea of Glass. May be because it's so tranquil and serene and serious in a way. I feel like it would be a lovely marriage of contrast: a light scent with dark clothes etc. Brighten you up Also your fascination with beauty also makes me think of Sea of Glass! Just loverly.

I also can't help but think of Bw and Crown of Conquest or Mme. Moriarty. Both are deep and dark scents. Bow and Crown is deep and not sweet but very comforting while Mme. Moriarty has a bit of a kick to it.

All the scents are beautiful!

Oh and I second the Black Lotus recommedation!

This starts off gorgeously dusty vanilla and orris. Reminds me of Silver Phoenix but better (without the awkward herbal note). Dear goodness that is so delicious! Lightly sweet and orris esque giving it a violet feel with dusty vanilla making it nearly creamy but very dry. Yum.

On my skin someting goes horribly wrong... someting is amping. Oh dear what IS that now I smell just like Faith! Faith was overbearingly sweet and sticky and syrupy sugared candied violets. Like a candied violet pudding sprinkled with heaps of sugar on top. That is what this is smelling on me now.

Needless to say I will not be keeping this. Because of whatever I amped though it's got really strong throw and lasts a really long time. I kept catching wafts of it and just had to wash if off.

Sigh... foiled by my ridiculous skin chemistry!

I'm trying to keep these reviews short and simple and to the point, the Helicopters unfortunately didn't work as nicely as I thought on me, that being said some where interesting surprises.

In the decant I'm encountering lovely rosey incense. It is surprisingly very sweet. No wood note and I think the Pipe Tobacco is helping to sweeten everything, but it isn't smokey.

On my skin... hello rose! Hello ROSE! HELLOOO ROSE! (Can you please go away, you've been heard!) Now I'm getting very sweet rose. More like rose petals actually. This reminds me very much of Saint Foutin. Actually to my nose they smell almost exactly the same on my skin expect the sweetness in Saint Foutin is attributed to the beeswax.

That being said... once the blend has time to calm down on my skin I kind of like it. The blend is very much a rose scent with a touch of almost sugared incense and a slightly robust nearly fruity feel to it. I just have to be careful and not overdo it. I'm clearly amping something!

Perhaps I'll look for a partial?