imaginepageant

Ranger is my favorite forest scent. In my review I said something like, "this is a man in an old leather jacket standing in the middle of the woods on an autumn morning."

It's only been on a couple of minutes and my skin is infamous for morphing scents, but so far, Creeper Dragon is outrageously sexy. I breathed in long and deep and actually moaned. Mostly dragon's blood, then green leather, with just the barest hints of red musk and honey to really amp up the sexiness. This is so good. This is making out up against a brick wall in the alley outside of a goth club with the heavy music still throbbing in your ears.

For GC (General Catalogue), I'd recommend Sin and Snake Oil. Both are definite patchouli blends, but not the dirty-hippie kind of patchouli.

If/when you get into LEs (Limited Edition), try Laughter of Loki, my absolute favorite patchouli blend. It's what patchouli should smell like.

Any good BPAL equivalent for BPTP's Exotic Bazaar atmo?

Definitely try Paduan Killer Swarm. I'm not sure if this is one of those power of suggestion things, but it actually smells like bees.

Hal is not at all what I had expected. I wanted dry, woody, sweet warmth. Instead, I got a face full of jasmine. Jasmine, jasmine, jasmine, jasmine, and some more jasmine. I did eventually get a whiff of the blackened honey, but that was about it. No saffron, no vanilla, no cedar, no hay. If you like New Orleans, you will like Hal. But if you were hoping the jasmine would be a background note, you probably won't.

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone!

The Rending of the Rock (Doom unfettered, the ruin of hope: the tattered remains of Gelgja, smashed stone, feral grey musk, and blackened blood.) I haven't tried this but it might work.

Definitely have to try this! Smashed stone could work for the goblin mountain, Grixis has grey skin, and the blood, well... he's always covered in blood. ETA: Reviews say vetiver. Nooooooooooo!

In case you couldn't tell, I'm feeling the Vetiver for him.

Sadly, vetiver is my doomiest of doom notes, and sort of makes me want to throw up.

Reptoid Dominion or Al Azif?

Ooh, I wish I still had some Reptoid Dominion. That would be perfect for all the dinosaur pheromones he's probably got all over him!

A thread like this exists? Hooray! Maybe you lovely people can help me find a scent for my D&D character!

He is a goblin by the name of Grixis Geargrinder, The Chosen One, The King of the Goblin Mountain, the Creator of Realms, the Tamer of Beasts, the Wielder of Magic and the Master of Illusion, and probably more titles I'm forgetting about right now (he has more than Daenerys Targaryen). He is a rogue illusionist, and way way way chaotic. He has a castle made entirely of ruby, atop a mountain inhabited, within and without, by goblins who have finally accepted him as their king; he also created (well, more like discovered) a realm within mirrors that only goblins can access. He is obsessed with dinosaurs and has two dinosaur familiars, a velociraptor named Grumkin and a pterodactyl named Snark. He is infamous for smearing blood across his cheeks like war paint, and for dropping his pants to remind his friends that HE'S A BOY (since I myself am actually a girl, they often refer to Grixis as a she).

Sadly, the RPG series does not (yet? poke poke Lab) have a Goblin. And the other Goblin does not at all smell like what a goblin should smell like. Not that I want something completely realistic, because it would probably smell like poop and blood and raw meat, but something at least symbolically goblinesque would be nice.

I'm thinking perhaps Creature Feature as a "natural goblin skin" base. Chaotic should probably be one ingredient, but I don't think Rogue or Mage will work for him; Rogue because he doesn't wear leather, and Mage because it's way too pretty.

Any other suggestions?

ETA: This is my 1337th post.

I bought a bottle blind, because it sounded interesting, I was making an order anyway, and, well, Loki. I've not had much success with blind buys in the past, so while I was hoping I'd like it, I wasn't expecting an out-of-the-park hit.

Well, that's what I got.

The Laughter of Loki is what patchouli should smell like. I can't distinguish a single other note in this blend; they all swirl together seamlessly to create something singularly beautiful. It's gritty, musky, sweet, and green in all the right amounts. It's outdoorsy without smelling like a forest, and it's pretty without smelling like perfume. It's balanced right between masculine and feminine. It smells good in the bottle, but it truly blooms on my skin and keeps getting better and better the longer I have it on.

After a couple of wears I realized this was going to be a favorite. I actually tried not to love it so much just because I didn't want to decide what to kick out of my top five to make room for it (yes, these things are important to me). But I failed miserably, and now consider it my #3.

Try this blend if you like patchouli but not dirty patchouli, green but not astringent, sweet but not foody. Try it if you don't like smelling girly, but you don't want to smell quite like a dude, either. Try it if Tom Hiddleston makes you weak in the knees, because this is sexy and mischievous enough to evoke his impish Loki grin. Try it if you don't fall into any of those categories, because it's just damned gorgeous!

Pele. Pele, Pele, Pele. I first tried it a few months after a trip to Maui and I was stunned at how precisely it smelled like Hawaii. Seriously, that is what the air in Maui smells like. It's ridiculous.

Rather reminiscent of Banshee Beat to my nose. The brown musk and honey make the patchouli dusty and sweet in the same way that hemp and vanilla do in Banshee Beat. If you like Banshee Beat, you will probably like Voyeuristic Monkey. There's also something a little bright and a little juicy that brings Urd to mind, though it's fading as time goes on. This is definitely a hippie scent, that's for sure!

I am terrible at blindly picking out notes. I would agree with the others in that there's some kind of sweet resin, a faint spiciness, and a bit of bitter cranberry. But what it really smells like is body lotion—specifically, the St. Ives Healthy Brilliance body lotion I used five years ago. The resemblance is so strong it was like a smack in the face!

Can't believe no one has mentioned Ranger yet: Buckskin accord with Terebinth pine, Russian birch, black ironwood, elder bark, hay, armoise, juniper, patchouli, galangal root, Spanish moss, and cabreuva. It gave me a strong mental image of standing in the middle of a forest wearing a well-worn and softened leather jacket.

Odin is a nice woodsy blend as well: His scent is dry elm bark, amaranth, warrior’s musk, and Odin’s Nine Herbs of Power.

To me, there are two distinct chocolate notes that the Lab uses (to me, I want to stress this): one that is heavenly, dark and rich - and one that is waxy and smells like a scratch-n-sniff postcard.

Yep, I get the same thing. As far as I can tell, chocolate notes go scratch-n-sniff stickers on me (with the exception of WILF, in which the chocolate is nearly unnoticeable to my nose), but cocoa and cacao are great.

As others have said, it's probably just a skin chemistry issue.

Entangled (Kudzu vine, raw honey, ginger cream, and gingergrass.) is my go-to ginger blend right now, and I love ginger!

Question for anyone who has tried both Entangled and Paduan Killer Swarm: how similar are they? I passed on Entangled in my decant circle because even though they don't share many notes, the description reminded me a lot of how Paduan Killer Swarm smells on me. I'm kind of regretting it now, though.

There's no shortage of blends with ginger listed as a note, but these five strike me as true ginger blends:

Shub-Niggurath (a blend of ritual herbs and dark resins, shot through with three gingers and aphrodisiacal spices) is a warm, sweet, foody ginger... it's always reminded me a bit of peanut butter cookies, somehow. Judging by what you've said you like, I would wager that you would love Shub-Niggurath!

Young Pine Saplings (cream, clove, ginger, and honey) is also sweet, but the ginger was very strong, and it ended up being a bit too much for me to take. But, I'd still recommend giving it a try.

Paduan Killer Bees (tonka, black licorice, amber, golden sandalwood, ginger cream, bitter clove, stinging nettle, cinnamon bark, and coconut shell) is not foody at all to me, and much lighter on the ginger, but it definitely still strikes me as a ginger blend. It's becoming one of my favorites!

Gnome (an explosive blend of effervescent golden ginger and black peppercorn with sarsaparilla, gurjum balsam, nutmeg, gear lubricant, and smoke) is less sweet, very bright and crisp, and reminds me strongly of ginger ale. Also great if you want a non-foody ginger.

Goblin Cider (a dark, earthy ginger cider) smells like ginger beer to both myself and my boyfriend.

I've got two imps of Van Van, acquired from different sources (I believe both forumites, but one might have been a Lab frimp). I just noticed that the oil in each is a different color—one an almost clear yellow, one a darker orange—so I sniffed both to compare. And they smell completely different: the lighter one is fresh and lemony, while the darker one is strong vetiver. Looking through the review thread, it looks like this isn't just a case of an imp gone bad; half report lemongrass and vanilla, half report vetiver and patchouli.

So, what's the deal? Was this blend reformulated at some point? Was there a run of bad batches? Or are there supposed to be two variations?

(I'm sure this has already been discussed, but due to the limitation of the search function to only search words with four characters or less, I'm unable to search for it. Searching Van* doesn't help, either, since it pulls up every single mention of vanilla, which you can imagine is a great deal.)

Now, how about some Hunger Games ones? What's a real strong rosy one for President Snow? Something woodsy for Gale (hey, maybe Coyote), and slightly foody yet masculine for Peeta. Maybe Mary Read for Katniss? And I swear I'd say Hellcat for Haymitch cuz he has to have something with a boozy note. lol. Cinna...Cinna needs to be awesomesauce incarnate. (can ya tell he's my fave?)

Katniss: Ranger, obviously. I think The Bow and Crown of Conquest would work well, too.

Peeta: Bread and Butter-Fly. Simple and wholesome, and befitting a baker's son.

Gale: Hunter or Dee.

Haymitch: John Barleycorn.

Cinna: Chimera.

President Snow: The Last Evening of the Year.

For some reason, Seraglio (sweet almond and Mysor sandalwood enveloped by a heady veil of Bulgarian Rose, neroli, nutmeg, clove and orange peel) made me think of carrot cake the moment I smelled it.

I was tickled pink when I got my Weenies today and noticed the similarities between this year's Samhain, and Samhain '05. Both have the witch, with the same hairstyle, and both have moons in the background. I did some searching for pictures of the labels from other years, as I don't have any others, and it seems that only '05 and '11 share the witch and the moon. Neat!

Disclaimer: the only clubs I like are goth clubs that play rock and metal, so my choice may not work for someone who prefers traditional dance clubs. That being said, Dragon's Heart. Unfortunately, dragon's blood goes more floral than resiny on me now (though I'm still uncertain if it's just too fresh and needs to be aged), but back in the day, it was the ultimate dark, sultry, smoky scent for me and it still makes me want to dance whenever I smell it.

Banshee Beat. I have yet to actually get a compliment on it, but it's consistently the one I reach for if I want to be noticed. I think it's one that I'd be proud to be noticed in because it's how I want to be perceived: earthy, tough, and just a little sexy.

But when I'm wanting, ahem, attention from my boyfriend, it's got to be Mme. Moriarty, Misfortune Teller. Again, he hasn't complimented it, but it's the ultimate sexy blend to me, and I feel sexy in it.

So my point is: wear whatever makes you feel awesome and makes you want to come out of your shell!

Okay. We are the same person. I'm putting together a patchouli-themed set for my mother for Christmas in hopes of enabling her.

I have to echo sunshinedaisybliss - BANSHEE BEAT. It's my favorite blend, and when my mom smelled one of my bottles the last time she visited, she immediately said, "I want this!" I have three bottles, but she'll have to pry them out of my cold, dead hands if she wants them. But yeah, if you can hunt some down, it's a must-have for any patchouli lover.

Otherwise, here's a list of GCs I've put together for ideas. This isn't every GC with patchouli, as I left out the ones I knew she wouldn't like due to other notes (mainly vetiver and aquatics) and ones that had tons of notes since I want the patchouli to be noticeable if not prominent.

- Anne Bonny: A blend of Indonesian red patchouli, red sandalwood, and frankincense.

- Aureus: True, perfect golden light, refined into an incomparably glorious scent.

- Coiled Serpent, The: (no description, reviews mention patchouli)

- Depraved: Earthy black patchouli swelling with apricot.

- Desire: Bittersweet neroli, black patchouli and black musk, gilded by apple, bergamot, blood red rose, teak, and vanilla.

- Emma: Vanilla bourbon, tea rose, jasmine, pink pepper, and patchouli.

- Goblin: Black coconut, gnarly patchouli, and sweet benzoin.

- Greed: Patchouli, heliotrope, copal and oakmoss.

- Hetairae: Golden honey, fiery patchouli, sweet fig and clove, and a blushing touch of ylang ylang.

- Iambe: Sudanese amber, patchouli, rose, gardenia, gladiola and white tea.

- Imp: White peach, amber, golden musk and patchouli.

- Lust: Red musk, patchouli, ylang ylang and myrrh.

- Masquerade: Patchouli, ambergris, carnation and orange blossom.

- Namaste: Sandalwood, jasmine, rose, patchouli, cedarwood and lemongrass.

- Night-Raven, The: Indigo musk, wild plum, rose geranium, benzoin, night-blooming jasmine, and patchouli

- Rakshasa: Sandalwood with rose and patchouli.

- Sin: Amber, sandalwood, black patchouli and cinnamon.

- Snake Oil: Indonesian oils sugared with vanilla.

- Tweedledum: Green mango, fig, patchouli and green tea.

- Vixen: The innocence of orange blossom tainted by the beguiling scents of ginger and patchouli.

- Wanton: Palmarosa, red sandalwood, attar of rose, patchouli.

Does anyone else find similarities between these two?

Irrelevant and Disturbing Surreal Crawdad Dream: An irrelevant, disturbing, and surreal scent: red currant, green tea, red musk, Hawaiian ginger, benzoin, vanilla, coriander, squash blossom, and blueberry.

White Rabbit: Strong black tea and milk with white pepper, ginger, honey and vanilla, spilled over the crisp scent of clean linen.

They have tea (though different kinds), ginger (though different kinds), and vanilla in common, but that's it. Yet, I just tried Crawdad Dream for the first time, and I was shocked at how much it smelled like White Rabbit after putting it on, especially since White Rabbit is one of my least favorite blends. I always thought it was the milk and pepper that went bad on me in White Rabbit, but I'm smelling the same icky thing in Crawdad Dream. Just with more fruit. The longer it's on my skin, the less similar it smells to White Rabbit, so maybe it was just a weird phase, but still. WEIRD. Am I crazy?

In the Vial: Oh, yes. Yes, yes, YES! This is orgasmic. Snake Oil and smooth, sweet chocolate, just slightly woodsy, with something my mind is perceiving as black musk, but must just be a trick played by combination of notes. It's thick, heavy, sweet, sexy, languorous, and utterly indulgent.

Wet: The Snake Oil and cocoa really battle it out on my skin, while the other notes cautiously take a step back. Something oh so slightly bright and sharp makes an appearance, making me think of vetiver, but which I know isn't vetiver because I hate vetiver but I still love this. All in all, it's definitely becoming something more lively than that languorous scent it was originally.

Dry: The cocoa appears to have won the fight for about five minutes or so... and then Snake Oil delivers an unexpected roundhouse kick to cocoa's face. Strangely, the throw is still rather chocolately, while up-close it's all Snake Oil. I'm getting a bit of a black licorice note, which my mind is definitely connecting to Snake Oil, despite not usually thinking it smells like black licorice... so maybe it's one of Snake Oil's mystery notes being brought out by the other notes? The dryness of the teakwood is also coming out more and giving the blend a warm, cozy feel.

An Hour Later: It's gotten rather faint for a Snake Oil blend; they usually stay strong on me for hours. It's a softer, smoother Snake Oil with just a hint of cocoa and teakwood left. Reminiscent of Black Temple Burlesque Troup and WILF.

Overall: Love love loved it in the imp, but it morphs a little too much on my skin. Going to give it a few wears before deciding whether to order a bottle once the Carnaval comes back to town.