Lady_Fire

Arana sounds amazing. I've never even heard of it. I'll have to put out an ISO.

Golden Priapus is nice but much too pine-y for me. I had and swapped away Hesiod's Phoenix and am kicking myself now. My tastes have developed so much since those days Antikythera Mechanism was all smoke on me, not in a pleasant way. I may have to look for a decant of Mars Ultor. Thanks!

No, if that's the one I am thinking of it turned into bubblegum on me.

Lately I have been really loving woodsy or patchouli vanilla blends. Some favorites are yucca yucca giant skipper, fulvous snow, NAVA egpytian sandalwood and possests silver sandalwood. Any recommendations for BPALs? I tried BPTPs RR and it's perfect and can't wait til the lab version releases. A lady tall and white did not work at all. No vanilla on me. Thanks!

Initially this is OMG CHOCOLATE while it is wet. I'm on the fence with chocolate scents so I wasn't sure about this one because it was super, super sweet on me. As it's dried the chocolate has receded and let the patchouli and sandalwood come out to play. Those three scents intermingle beautifully and the chocolate continues to burn off as I wear it. I have to put my nose right to my skint to smell it, so very low throw.

Sweet coconut overload. Coconut is not my favorite, but sometimes it does amazing things *ahemcaptainlilith* but usually it just isnt something I'd reach for. This is, as stated above, a honey doused coconut, reminding me of drinking tropical drinks on a warm beach. I am not familiar with saffron, but there is a slight spiciness to this that I don't recognize so I imagine that's it. If you like tropical, sweet scents I think this would be a hit for you.

This is very musky on me, in a good way. It's dark, maybe a little masculine. It's a very dark scent, but there is something bright, almost green to it? I wonder if that's the frankincense? I'm thankfully not getting any of the clove while it's still wet. As it dries some of the sweetness from the honey is coming out. I really like this. I'm not sure it's something I would wear, but it smells delicious and I bet it'd be awesome on my husband if I could ever get him to wear scents.

I think you may also like Alice from the Mad Tea Party collection. The notes are milk and honey with rose, carnation and bergamot. All Souls is a beautiful cakey incense scent, though I find it wears close to the skin. Should you ever have the chance, I think you'd LOVE Reflected Vulva from last years shungas. It's very rare and coveted though. I also think Dana O'Shee would be a good one for you to try. It's a very comforting scent.

Decant - labeled LXI

 

WOW!!! Smells like a cherry/almond pastry. Maybe a slight hint of some booze note. Can't wait to try! Will update when I use it in my hair tomorrow!

I think I sent you that!!! I got cherry/almond pastry from LXI as well!

Ava gave me the same vanilla perfume-y vibe as Black Lace.

Very warm scent, a little tropical. The coconut is not suntan lotion coconut, but more of a fresh cracked coconut. The florals are there, but they arent overwhelming. As someone who dislikes most florals, this is OK. I'm not smelling any resins, but maybe they will come out with some age.

Tooth achingly sweet. I can definitely smell the floral honeysuckle. There is something fruity that must be the fig. Honestly, this is just way to sweet and floral for me. It is a little cloying and makes me feel kind of nauseous when I sniff it directly.

This was straight black licorice on me. It actually made me feel slightly sick. Eventually (after more than an hour) the licorice scent faded and I was left with a gorgeous fougere. I never really got the vanilla and there wasnt even a hint of incense. The patch and licorice were the main notes on me. I'm going to let it settle for a bit then retest and pray the anise note calms down.

I revisted this today and got much less of the anise scent. I am hopeful that it will continue to fade as it ages so the other notes will come out more. It was more sweet and earthy this time around. Really nice actually. I will give it another test in a month or two!

So I'm really super terrible at picking out scents, but for you guys I'll do my best. On me this is a very lightly sweetened sandalwood-tobacco scent. I cant really make out the vanilla, but there is a gentle sweetness to the scent so I know it's there. The patchouli is very well blended. I can pick it out, but it doesnt scream at me. I have no experience with ambergris or immortelle so I'm not sure how they are playing into the blend. As it dries I can sense the smokiness coming out the previous reviewers mentioned. It really is gorgeous.

My current top 5 are

1. Morocco

2. Yucca Giant Skipper

3. Lilith Victoria

4. Snake Oil

5. Cake Smash

My top five are:

1. Veil
2. A Moment in Time
3. Lacus Solitudinis
4. The Nutcracker
5. Pele

I'm always looking for suggestions!

1. Nocturne

2. havent tried yet, sorry!

3. TKO

4. again, havent tried

5. Baobhan Sith

2014: Once this dries, it is a soft, sweet incense on me. There are currents and the barest hint of cake in the background that gives the incense a sweet, somewhat foody quality. It's very pretty but stays close to the skin. I have to get my nose right next to my wrist to smell it. Still, very pleasant and I'm sure I'll reach for it often.

edited on 12/15/2014: I am wearing this again after letting it settle for a bit and it is glorious. Soft, sweet incense and the currents and cake have really blossomed in the last 2 months. It is absolutely stunning. I imagine it's going to continue to age beautifully.

On me this smelled liked sweetened patchouli. The vanilla was particularly distinct, it was more of a sugared patch scent than anything. I get no cinnamon from it. It's really lovely when dry and the patchouli isnt WHOA PATCH at all. I think Silkybat fans would like this.

I can definitely see comparisons to Sprinklecake. I think they have the same cake note, but this one is all sugary pink frosting. I think it is strawberry buttercream frosting and sprinklecake. Sprinklecake didnt work on my but this one is OK. Not as good as my beloved Cake Smash, but a great cake scent none the less. I do not get a bubblegum note at all.

2014 version: I am not familiar with the BPAL leaves scent and nothing I smell while wearing this makes me think of leaves. The vanilla musk in this reminds me of Ava or one of the laces, it has a similar feel to them. I do not get any cocoa from it at all. It's a dry, semi-sweet scent. I smell something greenish - maybe thats the leaves? It's pretty and perfect for fall. If you like Ava I think you would like this too.

This is really strong on the patchouli when it's wet. I put it on and thought "meh." Then I went grocery shopping and kept getting whiffs of something lovely only to realize it was me! It settled into a woodsy vanilla with light patchouli that is just gorgeous. The woods are dominant on me but the vanilla sweetens it up. The patchouli is there and recognizable but it's very well blended and just evokes soft, cozy thoughts!

This was a really fresh, bright jasmine while it was wet. Once it dried the jasmines died and took on the dreaded cat pee note Sad, because it was very pretty in the wet stage..

I had such high hopes for this one, I almost bought a blind bottle. I'm glad I didnt. This isnt the tobacco-vanilla I was hoping for. I think I'm mostly smelling orange blossom, which I am not a fan of and had hoped would be undetectable. I'm not getting any of the myrhh and if there's vanilla in there it's unrecognizable. On me its tobacco-orange. Meh.

This smells nutty. Specifically, like peanuts. I can definitely smell the musk, but this weird peanut-y note overpowers everything else. There's something sweet in the background that I can just barely detect. This one is not for me.

Anyone got recs for spicy vanillas that aren't necessarily gourmand? Like, vanilla-tinged "florientals" and the like? I want to dip my toes more into the sweetness of vanilla, but hate smelling like food. ^^;;

 

To give you an example of vanilla blends I dig - I kinda like Euphrosyne and Lyonesse, and really like my bottle of Hod v2. Dolce Stil Nuovo and Three Brides have a nice vanilla flower smell in them that I enjoy as well. I don't like Snake Oil (yeah, blasphemy, I know) because it's got patchouli - that note makes me physically ill, so it's a 100% dealbreaker. Honey doesn't make me ill, but I also don't really like the smell, so O was a no-go when I tried it.

Have you tried Tombstone? That's a very spicy Vanilla IMO. Similar to Snake Oil on me but without the patch.