TheFrenchWaffle

Firstly, I do apologize if this needs to be moved elsewhere (I searched and nothing came up).

After encountering Belle Vinu long ago in my first venture into all that is BPAL I discovered that I (and my skin) loves rosewood. I have since desired to find other rosewood scents. I tried Old Scratch in hopes that the rosewood would play up nicely with lavender but it only turned into baby powder on me. And so I pose my search to you all, what other rosewood prominent BPAL scents are out there/ what would you recommend? Thank you!

"And an Irene Adler ("always referred to by Holmes as the woman.")"

Yes please! Scandal was the very first Holmes story I ever read

I have been dying to try this one out, now I am finally getting around to writing a review

in the imp: wood, freshly polished oak.

wet:very oak-y and teak-y then the tobacco comes into play. This reminds me of well oiled cogs and wheels. This is a very nostalgic scent for me.

dry: lovely beautiful oak and teak, this is fantastic! The tobacco is a faint whiff here. I get very little, if any, vanilla which lightens the woods just a tad.

Final verdict: I absolutely adore this scent. This is lovely oak and teak with tobacco lightly weaving through. This reminds me of childhood spring cleaning (I was in charge of dusting and polishing the tables). While I do love this scent, I'm not sure that I necessarily like it ON me. I would love this on a significant other, or even as a room scent...

Holmes at a Black Mass - what a fun image! 'Hellfire' has some promise. I also like the ideas of 'Famine' and 'Parliament of Monsters.' I had overlooked tea, essential to any Victorian household, and opium smoke is a neat little nod to the opium dens Holmes occasionally frequented. I have 'Antikythera Mechanism' - it's almost too nice smelling, I think! Not enough tobacco, a little too much vanilla. 'Dorian' sounds interesting, though I wonder if the "sugared vanilla tea" would stand out to me the same way the vanilla in 'Antikythera' does.

You got vanilla from Antikythera? Jealous. I mainly got teak, oak and tobacco.

So nice to see fellow Holmes fans here

Dorian (A Victorian fougere with three pale musks and dark, sugared vanilla tea)-this captures more of the over all mood of the books

The Antikythera Mechanism (Teakwood, oak, black vanilla, and tobacco)-very much what I imagine 221 Baker street smelling like

Dorian is amazing. Teatime in Roswell (Earl Grey, biscuits, Battenberg cake, and strangely-glowing cucumber sandwiches) is my favorite tea and pastry scent.

Very masculine. Nice, but not really my type of scent.

In the imp: piney goodness with rosemary and a touch of lemon

Wet:Still big time on the pine with the lemon edging out the rosemary

Dry: warm pine reigns supreme

Final verdict: Nice but really not for me. I gave my imp to my brother who absolutely adores it, we just might have a new BPAL addict...

This will be short. Lemon verbena with a hint of green tea, reminds me ever so slightly of Embalming Fluid then *POOF!* it's gone.

In the imp: floral. The carnation has me a bit worried though.

wet: lily and carnation are very present. I am a bit worried it might stray into powder/older lady cosmetics smell but so far it is behaving nicely.

Dry: sweet pea peeks through and blossoms into a full-bodied sweet pea blend. It reminds me of Aeval but Desdemona amps better and longer.

Final verdict: Good staying power and plenty of throw. I do like this scent but not quite enough to buy a whole bottle.

In the imp: sweet pea and a few herbs with the tonka rounding this out

wet: Sweet pea is the strongest but this isn't the strongest blend

dry: very faint sweet pea. Not a whole lot of throw which makes me very sad as it is such a lovely scent.

Final verdict: Lovely but I wish my skin could amp it a little better, no bottle for me but I am keeping the imp.

In the imp: lemon and herbs (lavender is prominent)

wet: lemon verbena really plays up on my skin with soft herbs

dry: sweetened lemon

Final thoughts: This is a lovely scent but it is a bit redundant as I have a bottle of limoncello from Possets that I love, so that rules out ordering a bottle.

Tamora is now my favorite illyria scent!

In the imp: Smells very sweet with a hint of fruit, like a peach hard candy

wet: The peach stays around which worried me a tad as fruit tends to be iffy on me but I should never have doubted, the peach mixes wonderfully with the heliotrope and vanilla

dry: The peach, softened with sandalwood and a hint of vanilla is a nice soft scent with a delightful throw

Final verdict: This works perfectly on me, absolutely amazing. Bottle-worthy for sure in the future

So I love Halloween (Favorite holiday, ever!). This year I am part of a haunted house and I am playing a pepper's ghost (mirror and such) the character I was given was a Victorian era woman who was murdered by her husband, the doctor of the asylum. I am also attending a theater Halloween party and will either go as a 1950's housewife or as an angel with a map of the US (Angels in America, get it? Okay, maybe I am the only one who finds that amusing). Any recs? Thanks.

In the imp: pretty floral scent, rose stands out, very fresh

Wet: The floral veers on the green side

dry: Oh, I really did like this. However a friend told me I smelled like soap. Not a bad soapy scent, mind you, but soapy nonetheless.

Final verdict: It was nice while it was wet but once it dried it went soapy. Nice, but not bottle worthy.

Great recs so far, thank you. I am also curious as to what you pick to wear and why.

Still relatively new here, might as well give this a whirl. Adventure is out there!

I am in my senior year of college double majoring in history and theater with a religion minor. I tend to be on the nerdy studious side with a thorough dose of quirky nerdy humor/wit yet I also do like to have a good time with friends. I am on the shy side (yay for anxiety!) but will eventually warm up to people. Personality wise I am very much my own person (independent, creative, compassionate, and quirky) and will not let people dictate who I am. Until the last three years I was going through the "I-hate-my-body-and-ashamed-of-it" phase but now am starting to become more confident/assertive. I absolutely adore vintage clothing and home decor (Victorian and 1920's-50's are very dear to me), currently I have this Victorian meets 1950's thing going on right now in terms of dress. I love to read (Shakespeare, TS Eliot, Dylan Thomas, David Sedaris), act, and be active in politics (god I love politics!). Right now I am considering continuing on with my education (masters,ect) in either history (possibly research or teaching) or religion. I am planning on taking 1-2 years off to do Lutheran Volunteer Corps and get a placement that lets me explore those options to see which is the right path for me. Another thing, I love to bake, this cannot be stressed enough! Pies are my favorite!

I just fell madly in love with Teatime in Roswell (Earl Grey, biscuits, Battenberg cake, and strangely-glowing cucumber sandwiches). It is now my precious. Is there anything in the GC that matches it?

I do apologize if this exists elsewhere, feel free to re-direct it where it should be.

There have been posts about job interviews, but what about auditions? As a theater student I naturally audition for the various shows around. I was just wondering if anyone else wears a scent for auditions and how do you decide. So far I have been reaching for Bastet or Aunt Caroline's Joy Mojo because a.) they smell nice (in a light and not over-powering way) and b.) they ground me somewhat. How and what do you choose/decide?

For some reason Delirium or Absinthe seems to fit Bjork

any recs for Lauren Bacall, Katharine Hepburn, Hilary Clinton

pickles. just pickles. Very green pickles with some kind of floral poking through. Not a bad smell, just not quite what I would want to smell like.

In the imp: very sweet, sugary but with depth

Wet: Maple syrup but dark, very dark

dry: still maple syrup but now incense creeps in around the corners

Final verdict: I do love this scent. In my mind it doesn't quite fit as "sinister", but I am quite fond of it. Syrupy sweet yet not quite foody-LOVE!

I love this! Cinnamon is amazing!

In the imp: Screaming cinnamon and spice

Wet: Cinnamon reigns supreme! Reminds me of blockbuster...

Dry: The cinnamon softens and the sandalwood comes in to play.

Final verdict: I love this, The cinnamon plays well with my skin and sandalwood loves me. Now to death match between this an blockbuster...

Old Scratch, all powder on me (lavender, tonka, amber, and rosewood).

It smells so amazing. I can't wait to try this one out....oh wait....what is this? Why is my nose getting so plugged up? Why are my eyes watering? I can't be allergic! I don't have allergies! What is going on?

I'm not sure what it is, since I have no known allergies and I haven't had a problem with any of the listed notes before. This is just too weird and very sad. Perhaps I'll try again, third time is the charm! I really do love this scent complete and wonderful sandalwood goodness with soft florals in the background, it reminds me of Belle Vinu without the rosewood and peach. Hopefully this will work out...

Tried it again, I don't know what happened before but it seems to be working out on me this time.

In the imp: I smell clean linens, a hint of florals (but very dusty florals)

Wet: The sandalwood comes out to play more prominently, what a lovely blend

Dry: very "clean" smelling. White sandalwood always loves my skin and plays perfectly with the linen and florals

Final thoughts: Very lovely. More of a winter's day or spring scent for me as it is on the lighter airy side. I do like this, but not enough to track down multiple bottles of it (one bottle will last me).

Bonus: I'm working a haunted house this October as a ghost and I was walking to my room when I heard one of the managers exclaim from the break room, that I had just left, "Someone smells very lovely!". It was quite the esteem boost.

I don't know if the patchouli went bad but this imp just smells musty on me, and not a good musty. Combined with a very sweet sickly scent and some sort of floral. This just isn't working out...but wait after a few hours it brightens up a tad...but not enough. hopefully this will find a good home, swaps it is.