clover

Dragon's Hide

I'm a sucker for dragon's blood, a sucker for leather, and a sucker for smoky scents...so I had a feeling I couldn't go wrong with this one.

Out of the vial: Pure dragon's blood. Oh, yes.

Upon application: It only takes about a minute for the leather to sweeten and soften the dragon's blood. I've never thought of leather as a mellowing note, but that's exactly what it does in this blend.

Conclusion: Smoky and lusty and leathery and gorgeous. This is what I think my imaginary medieval boyfriend, Baldfur, smells like. Looooooove it. Can't get enough.

BINAH

Upon first application: I'm not quite sure how to describe it. Slightly floral, slightly sweet...but not sweet in a happy, cheery sweet kind of way, a very serious, earthy sweet.

After a few minutes: Ah, I think it's incensy sweet. Incense and wood, and a slight hint of floral.

A few minutes after that: Bam! Floral. Soapy florals, which generally indicates either roses or lilies. Unfortunately for me, that means headache.

Conclusion: Sometimes I am loathe to review floral scents, as my chemistry is so very, very opposed to them! But I would describe Binah as an earthy/incensy floral, that reminds me for some reason of being in a church.

Chesed

Sniffing out of the bottle: Very woody, indeed.

Upon first application: The only thing I can detect is some sort of light wood. Nothing heavy, just dry, salty wood. This, to me, is a very, very good thing.

After a few minutes: The wood mellows a bit and I start to pick up another scent - something just vaguely astringent and tangy. Like a very smooth lemon. (A smooth lemon? Where did that come from?)

Conclusion: I absolutely love this. It reminds me of Hamadryad, except instead of the slightly spicy background, the background is golden, and yellower. It's like laying on a bench made of freshly cut and seasoned wood. Beautiful. Will definitely be getting more!

So, are we talking mossy, then???

Maybe The Caterpillar? Or see if you can find a single note Oakmoss??

Hmmm, what is the correct pronunciation of vetiver? I always say it in my mind like it's frech "vet-i-vay", but I'm not sure that's right. Anyone?

I think the closest you're probably going to get is Shadow...although if I remember Eidolon was slightly lighter and saltier than Shadow. They're still similar, I think.

Otherwise you may want to try Cordelia, which also reminded me of Eidolon, except with a touch of floral.

Yep, there are certain times of the month when I can't wear Snake Oil, too - it turns ubersweet and doughy.

I would maybe suggest waiting a few days and trying again, it could definitely be a chemistry thing.

ETA: Of course I'm slow and a gazillion people have replied the same thing in the meantime. D'oh!

I would lean towards something with amber, like maybe Bastet or The Lion. Both are very soft, golden, slightly spicy & subtle scents. Both are slightly animalistic (in name), so I guess it's the warmth of something living that is reminding me of skin.

A second skin scent, on the other hand, means something entirely different to me. That would be one of those scents that are just so "you" that when you put them on they seem to meld with your body chemistry in a very special way. And that's probably high personal and dependent on skin chemistry. For example, whenever I put on Dragon's Milk, I feel like I just smell like me, only slightly better.

Your best bet would be to email the Lab. None of us know what is in The Living Flame, and I'm sure they will be more than happy to help you out with any allergy issues!

Or ... you can get a Paypal Visa which acts like a pre-paid credit card.  As long as there is money in the Paypal account you can use the credit card.

 

Bella

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yep, you can get a Paypal debit card, too, so that you can withdraw your paypal funds from an ATM machine.

Urd

Sniffing from the bottle: Wow, it smells pretty sharp...almost like cedar.

Upon first application: Oh, but the muscadine is really strong upon application. In one of those weird twist of fate, scents with wine in them smell ghastly on me, but grape is wonderful. Yum.

After a few minutes: On me this is a fairly even balance between black patchouli and grape. It's absolutely wonderful, but fairly strong. I think just a dab is required.

Conclusion: So, so happy I bought a bottle unsniffed. I generally don't like black patchouli, but it is sweetened up so beautifully by the grape in this blend. It's funny, I ordered this because I love nag champa, but I don't get really sense it at all in this oil. I love it!

Helping Hand

On me Helping Hand is not sweet at all. It's minty at first, and then it turns into a very almondy/vetivery mix. Like Queen with mint.

After a while, it's almost all vetiver. Vetiver happens to be one of my very favorite notes...so I LOVE Helping Hand.

Fiery Command

First impressions: Strong florals - my first guess is gardenia & maybe some jasmine.

Upon application: Gardenia & something slightly sweet, but I can't for the life of me figure out what it is. It's a strong floral with something slightly sweet and pretty underneath.

After a few minutes: I wore this today to help me take command of my own emotions, and it seems to be helping. It's very grounding (not at all what I was expecting from something called Fiery Command) and doesn't go at all bitter, unlike 95% of florals on me. I want to rub my wrist...kind of like my kitty with catnip. Kind of addictive.

I like this very much, indeed.

BPAL for Beginners:

Brand new to BPAL and don't know where to start:

BPAL scents that remind us of favorite commercial perfumes
The Forum Top Ten list is a good resource (most recently compiled November 2008).

Scents for men/gender neutral scents:Refer to this thread in the FAQ.

Advanced BPAL:


Everything you've always wanted to know about layering

GC Scents that are reminiscent of your favorite Limited Editions

GC Scent Staples for Newbies

Similarities Between General Catalog Scents

BPAL-Lush Similarities

Translating TALs to BPAL scents (for when you love the smell of a TAL oil but want to wear perfume without ritual)

Scents to Wear for a Job Interview

Bridal BPAL - scents for your wedding



Fond of particular notes? Look here to find recommendations for:

Almond (includes Amaretto)

Amber
Egyptian amber

Anise, Licorice and related scents

Apple

Bakery - baked goods scents

Banana

Bay Rum

Berries
Raspberry

Carnations

Chai

Chocolate

Cinnamon

Citrus, featuring Orange (see Lemon, Lime, Tangerine, Grapefruit threads as well)
Lemon
Lime

Civet

Clove and Clove Cigarettes

Coconut

Coffee

Dirt, Earth, Soil

Dragon's Blood

Evergreen notes, including Pine

Fig

Ginger

Grapes

Grass and Hay

Honey

Honeysuckle

Incense and Resins

Iris

Ivy

Jasmine

Lavender

Leather

Lilac

Lotus

Magnolia

Milk and cream

Mimosa

Mint

Moonflower

Musk - general discussion, see these separate threads for Red and White/light musks:
Animalistic Musks
Red Musk
White Musk and lighter musks

Nag Champa

Nuts

Orange Blossom

Patchouli

Peach, Apricot and Nectarine

Plum

Pumpkin

Rose

Sandalwood

Smoke and Fire

Spicy Scents

Tea

Tobacco

Tuberose

Vanilla

Vetiver

Violet

Ylang-ylang

**If a note doesn't appear on this list, it doesn't necessarily mean that there isn't a thread about it in Recommendations. Please do a search before starting a new thread and if you happen to see that a popular, widely discussed note hasn't been added here, feel free to PM the current Recs mod, ivyandpeony, to let her know. And of course you can PM her for search help, with suggestions and what have you.


BPAL by the season:

Spring:Springtime Scents
Summer: Scents to beat the heat, and Late Summer into Fall
Fall: Autumnal Scents
Winter: Here, including the perfect winter forest, Scents for a cold, crisp night & Holiday scents


Looking for a category, a mood, help with a problem? Look here to find recommendations:
Aquatic
Bakery Scents
[ Bonfires, campfires, burning leaves
Calming, Relaxing, Comforting
Clean
Dark, Scary, Ghostly, Foreboding...
Gourmand & Foody
Green scents, including green florals and green grass
Light, Gentle, Subtle, low throw
Longest-lasting BPALs
Metallic
Old books, paper & libraries
Sexy
Stimulating - for waking up and staying awake
Sweet
Good for Bedtime, or Problems with Sleep
Sweet BPAL scents, including candylike scents]
Tropical
Woodsy

BPAL to fit the weather!
Rain

(Edited to remove broken links, etc. by ivyandpeony 8/10/06)
(New links added 1/24/08 by ivyandpeony)

(Broken link fixed by LiberAmoris 11/28/17)

Hiya folks!

I xposted this on the LJ community.... But my question is, what scents smell similar to "Frost Moon"?

many thanks

-Miriam

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi anshara - you may want to check out this thread:

LE similarities

It has some good Limited Edition similarity information!

March Hare is by far the cloviest blend on me, followed by Three Witches. In those two oils, the clove completely takes over. My favorites with clove are Port-au-Prince and Voodoo, but the clove isn't particularly strong in those.

Silverangel, Ingenue and Phantom Queen have clover in them, not clove.

Out of that list I would choose Hamadryad, I think. It's very light, and the woody/earthiness will make you seem responsible. I would just make sure to wear it lightly.

Good luck!

Anubis

I know I am a complete and utter scent whore, and no one is going to believe this...but I'm going to say it anyway:

I think Anubis is the best smelling perfume I have ever come into contact with.

Seriously, after (I believe) 429 oils, I think I've found the scent that feels like it was made for me, and only me. Oh, I know it wasn't, but I still feel that way. Of course I adore many, many BPAL scents, but this one is something special.

Enough about me, though.

I looked at the description of Anubis, and nothing really jumped out at me. I thought this would be a heavy incensy scent.

Nope - I opened the imp and it was all sweetness and light. Golden. In fact, in smells, in the imp, like a big ol' carmel apple.

Upon application: I can't even describe what a perfect blend this is. Sweet and slighlty fruity, but not too sweet, but not floral. Just very pure.

This scent is GLORIOUS. I will be buying a 10ml ASAP.

And I can't help noticing - it only has five reviews. If you are reading this review, do yourself a favor and order Anubis.

Cold Moon

In the bottle: Sniff, sniff...ooooh, pretty! To me, this smells the most like Blue Moon of any of the other lunacy oils. Actually, it reminds me of the bottle of Chaos Theory that I received (helpful, huh?), which I described as a fruity Blue Moon.

Upon application: Very soft and decidedly fruity. Which is funny, since there are no fruits in the description. To me, it's a pale, glittery light green scent. Gentle florals...

This is an oil that can only be descibed as "pretty". It's not the kind of scent I'm normally drawn to (me and my dark soul ), but my impression is that it's the kind of scent that others will like on me. A keeper, for sure.

Aunt Caroline's Money Draw

Upon first application: All almonds. Sweet almond oil, though, not bitter. With lots of powdery cinnamon and sweet spices. And just a hint of orange. It's sweet, but not too sweet. Definitely not toothache-inducing sweet.

After a few minutes: Hmm, I'm wondering if there is some amber in this one, too - because there's a powdery sweetness when it dries down.

Conclusion: I loooovvve this oil! So much so that it is my new BPAL goal to find a bottle of it. As for the money-drawing effect, well that's still up in the air. But if it smells this good, I don't really care!

I'm wearing Eleggua today on my skin and in a scent locket, in order to do a proper review.

Ouf of the bottle: Yummy mint syrup! With just a hint of something sweet. Smells almost boozy. I think I mentioned briefly that when I first opened this up it reminded me of Spooky, and it still does.

Upon application: Sharp mint, but also an undercurrent of something golden. It's interesting, it's the same impression I get from Block Buster - it has the golden feel of honey, but doesn't smell like honey at all. I can't for the life of me figure out what it is.

After a few minutes: On my skin this is turning into a mint cookie, kind of dusty...while in the scent locket it stays syrupy.

A few minutes after that: The mint has really faded on my skin, and I'm left with a warm slightly sweet and slightly dusty scent. Very light. The oil in the locket is still sweet, delightful mint!!

This is a wonderful winter scent!

I am officially in love with Flame of Desire.

Out of the bottle: Spicy with just a hint of something animalistic.

Upon application: The first time I tried this the only thing I could smell was cinnamon, but this second time I'm just getting a hint of cinnamon. More than anything, it smells slightly dusty and earthy.

After a few minutes: Yep, it's definitely got that dirt scent from Ace of Pentacles & Zombi. Which I love, love, love. (It also makes me sneeze, which is why I don't wear Ace of Pentacles or Zombi anymore. However, in this case I'll just have to deal with it.) I also think there's some light and pretty florals. Something slightly sweet.

A few minutes after that: This may sound odd, but there's something in this scent that feels like it was dug up from underground. I'm wondering if it's a root of some kind. Mandrake root? Orris root?

Conclusion: Very, very earthy/dusty - and slightly floral, spicy and sweet. It's just a very "full" scent and completely addicting and gorgeous. One of those "I can't stop sniffing myself" scents.

First impressions: Tropical fruits! Bananas and oranges and coconuts and pineapples. This smells like tropical fruit Life Savers. Yummy!

Upon application: Same fruits but with some sort of flora underneath. Something earthy and musty and kind of sweet.

After a few minutes: I'm not positive, but I think it's tobacco that I'm sensing. And unfortunately it's taking over on me. The reason I think it's tobacco is that tobacco and my skin have a very discordant relationship. Tobacco - on me - is bad, bad news.

It's starts out so very promising, and I'm sure on most people this would be just lovely. I think I'll try it in my scent locket! Hmmm, that's a good idea...I'll definitely try that. It smells too good out of the bottle to give it up.

Oh, there are some really good ones - I think dark, resiny scents are what Beth does best!

Here are just a few:

Greed

Aureus

Blood Amber

Magus

Omen

Haunted

Sin

Fenris Wolf

Lust

Penitence

Yum!

I forgot to mention that I think Tarot: The Star smells A LOT like Spooky. On me, anyway.