Floria

Seconding Titania and Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat for girly fruity scents. Shoggoth's another good one in that family - it's kind of a floral tropical fruit salad to my nose. Odd, but fun.

Just found this thread. Yes. I have been hiding under a rock

How cool to have a scent recommended to you based on a personality description!

Hopefully, I can someday share my educated opinion on scent recommendations, but until that time, maybe someone could do mine?

 

Here it is:

My sign is Aries, Chinese year of the monkey. I'm a pessimist (although I like to say realist), creative (art degree: read stay at home mom). I love to dance (mainly ballet and zoomba, if zoomba is even considered "dancing"), sensitive (which totally sucks with the creativity thing because I hate criticism). My favorite color is blue (associated with the need to control or be in control). Sarcastic (but only occasionally now; I've gotten much softer with old age and my medication: aka happy pills). I feel socially awkward, but if I get to know someone or a small group of people, I'm outgoing and possibly even obnoxious.

 

Okay, so this is the first time I've made a recommendation based on personality...bear with me

 

1) based on Aries being associated with war + need to control = Great Sword of War

2) based on contradictions (not meant to be offensive, btw) you describe sensitive/creative socially awkward/outgoing = I thought of Nephilim.

 

Atrous, thank you for the suggestions! No worries about the contradictions, I am full of them

 

I am intrigued by Nephilim, especially the vetiver component. Great Sword of War looks awesome as I love musk, tonka and tea notes. It's funny I never looked at either of these scents before. I'll be getting a pack of imps in my next order and these will be welcome additions.

I'd definitely recommend trying Great Sword of War if you like the notes involved - it's not really like any other red musk blend I've tried. It's a very interesting blend of the tangy/bright citrusy top over a darker semi-foody base.

I got a little bit of fizz or sparkle (not to the extent of a champagne blend) from Rigorous Love - maybe it was the lemongrass and mimosa.

Can anyone who's tried My Happy Day comment on the fizz factor? It sounds promising, with the "effervescent" elemi and champagne grape.

Second Body, Remember--it was actually my first LE last year when I started with BPAL, and found that all things coconut turned hideously awful on me...but that one is Boozy, salty-sweet coconut goodness.

 

I have issues with roses too, and I've yet to find anything rose-y that doesn't smell sour once it hits my skin. And I love roses...it's very sad.

Can you wear rosewood? I've found it more cooperative than the flower. I've also found that aging tends to mellow rose notes, at least the lighter ones (like tea rose and whatever's in Pink Snowballs).

Dragon's Milk is a nice illustration of the more candy-like side of Dragon's Blood as well. It reminded me a little of red Twizzlers.

Aeval's a nice light musk blend that reminds me a little of Dorian, although sometimes the sage can give it a bit of a medicinal edge to my nose.

Red musk is sweet and strong, with a sort of fruity or sweet incense quality to some people. Spellbound's a good introduction if you like rose, and I get a lot of it out of fresh Snake Oil as well, though it's not a listed note.

For Lucia de Lammermoor - maybe Lucy's Kiss or Mania?

Mary Read is a wonderful nautical scent with an adventurous edge, but it might be too casual for opera-going, depending on one's sensibilities and nose.

This is a side of Dragon's Blood I haven't smelled much of before. The DBR in Blood Amber is more cool and floral, but the stuff here is warmer, more resinous and powdery, and a bit spicy. Dragon's Milk smells, to me, like red licorice and heliotrope, with a bit of a spicy-resinous undertone. It's just on the edge of too sweet, but never quite goes overboard - I think the powdery quality actually helps by keeping the honey from going too syrupy.

I wore Lady in a Speckled Pink Kimono for Easter, since I wanted something springy.

I'm looking forward to testing Goldenrod Crab Spider, Rigorous Love, and The Sound of Insects in hot weather.

Fruity resins, very well blended. It's hard to pick out individual notes. It goes a little powdery on the drydown, but in a nice way (like amber or benzoin), and it doesn't go dusty like some incense resins do. I wonder if there's wine in this - it has that kind of sweet-tart fruitiness. I'm not a big fan of wine notes (sometimes they can be too sour, too strong, or kind of medicinal), but it works nicely here. I can see the resemblance to Athens, but this is less syrupy-sweet and to my nose, easier to wear. It's also a bit like a mellower Delphi. A little honey comes out in the drydown which increases the resemblance. Worth checking out if you like fruity incense or you want an exotic scent that isn't over the top sultry.

I'd say this is a pretty unisex scent - to my nose, a bit butcher than Tombstone but a bit girlier than the Great Sword of War. Ymmv, of course.

Goldenrod Crab Spider (white mint, coconut, Indonesian champaca flower, lime rind, white ginger, and green tea) from the 2012 Halloweenies has a very realistic fresh lime rind note to my nose.

If you like coconut and can tolerate anise (I didn't get a lot of it, but I know black licorice is a subject on which people tend to have Strong Opinions), Rigorous Love from this year's Shungas has a nice lemon blossom note.

I didn't give this a proper test when I first bought it because it seemed more like a summer scent. It's still a bit early in the year for this kind of scent, but I wanted to test it before I put in my Luper order (I'm contemplating a bottle of Rigorous Love, and since Goldenrod Crab Spider and RL both have coconut and citrus, I wanted to make sure they smelled different enough to be worth having bottles of both.)

This wasn't nearly as sweet as I'd expected. The lime is a fairly realistic lime *rind*, not limeade or lime candy, aromatic and a bit sharp, even slightly bitter (the green tea may be reinforcing this). It reminds me of a squeezed-out lime half left over from making homemade limeade, with a bit of juicy flesh still clinging to the inside of the rind. There's a bit of minty coolness, but not enough to leave the production smelling like a candy cane or mint tea. The coconut provides a sweet, smooth base and ties the whole production together. I don't get much floral. I wasn't expecting the sharp edge, but a little bite is quite appropriate for a spider scent.

I'd like to try this in hot weather. I think the slightly biting quality might be quite refreshing under the right circumstances. It's also given me an idea for a possible summer drink (coconut milk, sweetened green or jasmine tea, fresh lime juice, and a sprig of mint).

On the whole, interesting, but I'm glad I managed to snag a decant off the forums rather than springing for a bottle.

This is very dry on me - perhaps not surprising, considering all the woods and such, but sometimes my skin amps sweetness. I'd been anticipating something like a spicier Tombstone, but without the strong vanilla element and with the rootbeer taken down a notch. I got dry, spicy, evergreen woods (but drier than your typical Christmas-tree smell), without much sweetness until the sarsaparilla kicks in on the drydown. Maybe because of the dry spiciness, it smells kind of old-fashioned to me. It's interesting and not unpleasant, but I like a bit more sweetness. I am considering layering it with Tombstone.

Mixed sweet and tangy fruity floral, with a syrupy quality right out of the imp - not as overwhelmingly sticky-sweet as Pet Magah Bird, but there is a bit of a melted-popsicle quality. It's pleasant enough, but strikes me as kind of a middle-heavy scent, that would be more interesting with the addition of more base notes and/or something light and airy. I like the balance a bit better once the dragon's blood comes out - its sort of dewy but resinous lilac scent is a good complement to all the sweet and tangy stuff.

I think I might appreciate its fruity punch qualities more once the weather warms up.

Fresh out of the vial I'm not so fond of this, because the rose seems to be on the verge of disliking me, as roses sometimes do. However, the drydown is a very pleasant, very femme, soft vanilla floral. The musk is the soft, pretty type, not sharp or cologny. I'm interested in seeing if aging mellows the rose a bit.

Initially, this is brisk lavender and candied violets, with something a bit reminiscent of scented floral soap. The drydown after the initial lavender blast is much softer and a bit sweeter. In my case, the drydown came across as really faint at first because the lavender was so strong right out of the vial. It's rather pretty at this stage, but I don't think I'll be needing a big bottle.

Fresh, this was a bit too green for me and didn't sweeten up properly on my skin, but I hung on to the bottle. Aging has improved it. It's more floral perfume than flowers, but it's gained some sweetness and lost the sharp green edge.

In terms of color, I think this would be a rich, slightly dusty, medium purple with a bit of red in it. Puce or rich mauve.

I get mostly coconut and lemongrass from this, with a bit of anise. Early in the drydown, there's a bit of something fizzy (although not nearly to the extent of something like Bon Vivant), which might be the tangyness of the lemongrass, and might be the mimosa. I don't get the vanilla orchid as a separate note (although fresh vanilla orchid may just not be very distinct on me, that was my experience with Lady In a Speckled Pink Kimono). It may be just providing a bit of sweet fuzz to keep the lemongrass from going too sharp.

My only real complaint is that it doesn't have much staying power.

Black Phoenix is lovely, but I get more of a cherry cola effect.

How do the patchouli and vetiver behave in Conical Beast?

Any recommendations for fruity cherry scents? I tried Blood Kiss as I was working my way through my imp box, and while I wasn't a big fan of the drydown, I really liked the initial blast of cherry.

I'm looking for more of a fruity cherry than a cola or almondy cherry, and I'd prefer it not be too cough syrupy.

Sin is one of my top 10, and I agree..it just lacks the coconut and Egyptian musk (suppose I could acquire single notes of those and try my hand, eh?)

If it doesn't have any of your death notes, see if you can snag a decant of Body, Remember (raw black coconut, ambergris accord, ambrette seed, champaca flower, and sugar cane) from last year's Lupers and experiment layering with that. It's a sweet, musky coconut.

Okay... So I'm addicted to Banshee Beat, along with hundreds of others, no doubt.

 

Not wanting to sift and sort through 70 pages, what are some good substitutions or blends to replace it? Short of writing up a petition to bring the damn siren that is Banshee Beat back, I have to make due with my imp or hope I can find a bottle that isn't exorbitantly priced.

 

I hear that Goblin is a good substitute; however, are there any blends that don't have coconut in them? I tend to amp coconut to high heaven, and it either turns into a dry, husky coconut (think Brown Jenkin-like) or suntan lotion (ewwwwww).

Feed Me and Fill Me With Pleasure (black patchouli, honey, and thick vanilla amber) from the Our Lady of Pain update might be worth trying. Even if it turns out not to have the same feel, if you like patchouli and vanilla you may very well like it on its own merits.

If you can find some of the late, lamented Prunella (plums, wildflowers, and cream), that might be up your alley. I don't know what floral note the lab used for the "wildflowers," but it has a nice slightly spicy quality.