themerrybaker

I find it difficult to distinguish several of the floral scents. They may have jasmine listed, or lavender, or orchid but sometimes I get “vaguely lilac”. This scent smelled “floral” rather than any lavender, wisteria, rose and reminded me of other florals –vaguely lilac – like Moscow, Shadow Witch Orchid, and Queen Mab. Ode is lighter however, and dries down to a light flowery musky smell that I prefer to the heavier scents. Nice, but although it may blast delight and joy, my socks are still intact.

The dreaded Play-Doh on dry down but only when performing the act of wenchly wrist sniffing. Vaguely resinous and pleasant with the nose a normal distance from the wrist (may be a problem if you are cleavage-endowed and a Pinocchiette), the scent is aptly described as dark and has good staying power. In fact, this scent takes out a 20 yr mortgage on your skin and is still around after showering. If you end up liking this one you won’t need to carry it around for reapplication.

Thanks, all.

I have had good luck (grocery clerks jumping out from behind shelves to find just the right bread) with Queen so should remember to use it more. I also have Wolf's Heart. Olympia was on the right track about taking care of my own karma, but I had to laugh when I saw the reference to BlockBuster.

NO NO NO!! the OTHER END, dang it!!

I got this one because my curiousity "needed" to know what Glittering Disco-Ball of Deranged Hairspray smelled like - maybe Johnny "Depp" vintage 21 Jump Street ?

Yes, the drydown does have a little Depp-thing going but it reminds me more of a mimosa (the drink) or champagne with very tart alpine strawberries.

This is different from a lot of BPAL scents, but it is nice in a perfumey way and has a gal's night out feel.

A few years ago I read a book in which African Witches used ground fish as a scent to protect themselves on journeys to markets. The idea was to scare of jerks.

Are there any ideas on scents that might work to intimidate misc. BS artists? It's for a good cause. If you are a techie, you abuse society's trust by making "look good" statements and all too often those statements are at someone else's expense.

I like Lex Talonis, but am not sure it's quite the thing. The idea is to create a No-BS zone and exuding strenght might be the way to do it.

Any thoughts?

Love At First Sniff:

Maybe something green (palm?) in the bottle, but dry a very well balanced. First 10 minutes: amber, honey, vanilla, floral (no overpowering rose). After about 15 minutes the herbaceous notes start to kick in. This is not overpoweringly sweet and just wonderfully complex.

Would be on my top 10 if I weren't a lazy slob who just posted one.

Luna is very floral - similar on me to Moscow and Shadow Witch Orchid (go figure). Many of the above posts mention jasmine. There may be a fair amount of jasmine, but I just sniffed my sambac jasmine plant and both Luna and Moscow are "darker" and "heavier". I would have guessed lilac or orchid mix.

So, yes I had the "floral experience" with this one, but got something a little more complicated than one note.

I've been on a kick wearing this one for a few days now. As per above posts it starts out "warm buttery pumpkin" which on me smells like "Look, Mom, I Barfed up a Cheesecake" - but this phase lasts a only few seconds.

The scent then dries down to smell like freshly sanded wood (I think balsa - not necessarily sandalwood), with a faint violet/spice undertone. When you think about how much of your environment is plastic/metal, carrying around a lumberyard-old library smell is great. (Maybe works as an aphrodisiac for carpenters?)

The woodiness may also be the pumpkin - the unspiced vegetable has a fibrous, watery odor similar to wood. This scent truly respects the vegetable-hood of our pumpkin friends and creates a great microenvironment.

Samhain 2005 starts out smelling a bit like evergreens, but almost immediately I get the "dry leaves" and wood. The pumpkin & spices come out faintly after about half an hour. This is a truly evocative scent for the season.

I have never really gotten a compliment on the BPAL scents, but Queen seems to "work". I was testing some from an imp and got LOTS and LOTS of help selecting bread at the grocery store. It was an altogether memorable experience

In the bottle its smells fruity: like dried apricots and wood rather than jam or syrup.

After drying, there is an "apricot pit" smell a little like apricot facial scrubs ( maybe this is the sweet roots?).

The "pit" smell is what I got throughout the day. However, a sniff at my elbow yields a different and nicely blended scent: maybe the floral and the sandalwood along with the fruit - although happily none of the notes are overbearing. It makes me wonder how I smell to others - apricot pits or the blended floral/sandalwood? Dang, should have asked my dedicated cleavage-sniffer.

I really like this unusual scent: it's not cloying, doesn't smell like food, and lasts throughout the day if you slather.

My vote would be for a summer scent.

Something that hasn't been mentioned....

This would be a good gender-neutral scent. It brings back happy memories of my grandfather's shaving soap and brush. .