Circaea

Death Shall Come in With Thee is a very civilized opium. Debauchery is a naughty, naughty opium. I'm really fond of them both.

Shattered and Mag Mell are lovely for summer. I also really love Lemon Scented Sticky Bat. Mouse's Long Sad Tale gets a lot of love, too. If you like florals, Mata Hari is sweet and sexy, but not heavy. And Absinthe is similar to Embalming Fluid, but I like it a little better.

Okay- some slight adjustments now that I've tested a little more..

 

1- Viconte de Valmont (love how sharp and elegant this is, smells like a beautiful man on me)

 

2- Languor (the big dark opiate flowers that I didn't know that I wanted to smell like)

 

3- Count Dracula ( though Dracul is helping to ease the suffering of being unable to get bottles of this beauty, if only a little)

 

4- The Lady of Shalott (those huge white cold flowers, I love them)

 

5- Dragon's Blood (so far the other blends do not hold a candle to the straight up cheerful, bold warm original)

 

I'm going through new scents every day, but curiosities like The Ghost and Loup Garou have been sneaking multiple wearings and Mr. Ibis and King Haggard may edge themselves into the top 5 soon....

 

Let me know if there's anything I should prioritize. I wonder if I'm showing any patterns yet... so far I know things that go to sweet/foody don't work on me. GC or unimpable only, please. Count Dracula broke my heart with his inaccessibility.

If you like Dragon's Blood, you might also like Blood. It's similar, but distinctive, with a little clovey sharpness.

If you like Languor, you might enjoy Laudanum, Opium Poppy, Slippery Poppy Tincture, or Belle Epoch (I have a slight opium habit!)

Zephyr is a white floral that I really like, when the mood strikes.

(Can't help with the manly scents, because my nose can't handle them.)

Tombstone, Halloween Los Angeles, Cairo. And I find Eve (OLLA) to be evocative of a dry, hot place. Also, I second Playful Wooden Mallets, which I think of as warm, spicy and dry.

(ETA: sorry, I just reread the original post, and Tombstone was mentioned as being too sweet.)

Sri Lanka comes to mind, too. And Katmandu and Kubla Khan.

Really pretty, refined and fruity with a soft hint of musk or powder supporting it. (But it took several tests for the plum to come out, so if you're underwhelmed at first, let it rest for a few weeks or so before coming to any conclusions). It reminds me of Prunella, and Lovers in a Ricefield. If you liked either of those, you'll be happy with this one.

At the moment, my top five scents are:

 

Ava

El Dia de los Reyes

Plastic Pink Flamingo

Boomslang v2

Black Temple Burlesque Troupe

1. ? (haven't tried this one)

2. Mayan Chocolate with Amaretto, Anaheim Pepper, Cinnamon and Vanilla

3. Velvet Unicorn

4. Tarantula Fascinator, WILF, and Snake Oil Hair Gloss

5. Playful Wooden Mallets, The Velvets

Pumpkin V 2012: Vanilla and pumpkin spices. And Snakes in the Pumpkin Patch.

And Huesos de Santo. (Theme in Yellow is so nice, too. And the label is adorable.)

This is fun and I would love some new recommendations... would love to find a replacement for Blood Countess!

 

1. Blood Countess
2. Tamamo No Mae
3. Hungry Ghost Moon
4. Morocco
5. Neo-Tokyo

I'm also a sucker for O, Snake Charmer, and anything in that realm.

1. The Hanging Garden (also discontinued), maybe Berry Moon? (I like Australian Copperhead's initial berry note, but it doesn't stay)

2. Lovers in a Ricefield

3. Street Festival

4. This is a wild card recommendation, but I found the Coconut Tiare hair gloss made me think of Morrocco. Not that they have the same notes, but they give me a similar impression

5. Holiday Moon

extras: Womb Furie, Le Petit Mort, and Le Lethe.

Currently:

 

-Jazz Funeral

-Santo Domingo

-Creepy ('08, I think)

-Ephemera

-Santa Muerte

It sounds like you need Elegba, to go with your themes. Along the lines of Santa Muerte, Flowering Chrysanthemums is a great mum scent. Perversion and Havana are must-try's for the booze/tobacco thang. Ephemera is a discontinued violet/floral combo. Maybe Time Does Not Bring Relief. For Creepy, perhaps Punkie Night. You might also give Incubus a try: it's caramel, tobacco, musk and mint.

ETA: oh, and for some reason I thought of Mata Hari. (Maybe it's just your username that's giving me an old-fashioned Vamp vibe.) Oh, and Wanda - wine and leather.

Mine are currently:

 

Dorian

Oberon

Kumiho

Pumpkin V 2007

Sed Non Satiata

 

Outsiders: Haunted and Chimera

For Dorian: Jareth, Embalming Fluid.

Kumiho: Baobhan Sith, Aizen-Myoo, Mag Mell,

Pumpkin V 2007: Bakaneko, Pumpkin Queen, Ravenous.

Sed Non Satiata: La Petite Morte, Queen of Sheba.

Does bpal oil go bad even stored in a cool dark place?

 

I've had a bottle morph into something I didn't want to wear. I bought White Rabbit fresh from the lab. After about a year (stored in a box, no light or heat), it smelled like single note pepper. I frimped it to someone who said it smelled fine. So I'm not sure if it went bad, or if something started to amp on my skin. Either way, my conclusion is that not every scent I buy will last for years and years.

 

So... I wear it like there's no tomorrow, if it's something I really like.

 

I am a slatherer too! With any oil really, whether it's a fave or not. But with the amount of oils I have, I'm not even making a tiny dent in my collection. I really ought to stop buying...but it's so hard!

I'm trying to stop buying so much. I have a dozen opium scents alone! It will take me years to get through them, if I ever do. I've slowed down a lot. It helps that I've finally concluded I don't like going to the post office, so I can't tell myself "if it doesn't work out, I can always sell it or swap it." Now that I know I'll be keeping it all, I'm more conservative.

Sometimes when I'm reading a review and I get a hankerin', I'll stop and ask myself... What do I have that is similar? I've rediscovered some gorgeous scents that way. And I realized yesterday that the half bottle of Playful Wooden Mallets I bought two years ago was down to its last two drops. (!) So, maybe I can get through my stash. (I have a new bottle of Mallets lined up, though. Whew, that was close.)

Back on the topic of how long do scents last, my oldest is from 2005, Holiday Moon. Still fruity, cool and pretty.

Does bpal oil go bad even stored in a cool dark place?

I've had a bottle morph into something I didn't want to wear. I bought White Rabbit fresh from the lab. After about a year (stored in a box, no light or heat), it smelled like single note pepper. I frimped it to someone who said it smelled fine. So I'm not sure if it went bad, or if something started to amp on my skin. Either way, my conclusion is that not every scent I buy will last for years and years.

So... I wear it like there's no tomorrow, if it's something I really like.

So it looks like no one ever got back a response about something resembling Coco by Channel. To me, it's an oriental with dark, not very sweet fruit. Heavy on the amber with a touch of incense, and pomegranate/some other dark fruit with just a smidge of clove. Hymn to Proserpine was the closest, but it's discon and hard to find. Any help?

I just re-tested my who-knows-how-old imp of Hymn to Proserpine to remind myself. Gods, it's glorious. I can't think of anything like it, except that the first wet sniff reminded me of an even more rare blend: Glowing Vulva, which doesn't have amber or fruit, and is even more HTF. So that's not much help.

ETA: Sorry, Glowing Vulva does have amber. (mah bad.)

I could swear I reviewed this one, but...? Oh, well. I have to be the voice of dissent and say that Reflected Vulva is very pretty at first, with comparisons to Snow White being very apt, but it dried to an unbearable powder, what I think of as "vanilla musk", something that almost chokes me in its dryness. I had a similar reaction to Morocco and Celeste. Tested it twice, and I don't want to go there again.

Love the initial blast: lavender and fresh green... things. Reminds me of Kumiho. But the dry-down goes kind of soft and powdery. Someone said "dryer sheets." I don't quite get that impression, but it's similar. I will hold on to my imp. I think I might wear this to bed sometimes, and if it were an atmo spray, I'd probably look out for some. It has a clean freshness.

A long time ago, when I was very young, I had a bottle of YSL's Opium, and wore it religiously, though it was probably too mature for my tender years. I didn't care. I loved it.

I totally second everything from the first two reviews, in my less than articulate way. This is opium, grounded by sandalwood, sweetened by vanilla, softened by smoke. It's pure beauty in every stage.

This is better, far better, than any expensive commercial perfume, and I definitely need a bottle of it.

ETA: a review below me compared this to Black Lace. I agree. And if I layer Black Lace with Tattered Lace, I get something quite similar to Death Shall Come In With Thee.

Yes, or failing the resurrection of Glowing Vulva, I wish there would be a Teak single note, so I could layer it with Blossoms in Springtime, which is kind of close, especially aged in a decant/imp.

If you like Banshee Beat (and Goblin) then I suggest Feed Me and Fill Me With Pleasure. (btw, my imp of Goblin has finally reached the age when the patchouli doesn't bite my head off, and I can smell the coconut and benzoin. Nice call, Mellifluous.)

I don't know the other scents on your list, Ella, so I can't suggest a perfect scent based on a confluence of notes. Which I'm sorry about. But I can keep the game going.

My Top Five Scents:

1. Glowing Vulva at Ryogoku Ridge

2. Banshee Beat

3. Midnight on the Midway

4. Boomslang V2

5. For more delicate moods, maybe Lovers in a Rice Field, or Tamamo no Mae

From the General Catalog, I would recommend Lights of Men's Lives and Defututa.

This feels lush and floral, like waxy lily or other very green big tropical bloom. Just green and leafy enough to win me right over. I feel like a beautiful plant, or some exotic 40's club singer, wearing a huge flower behind my ear.

First test: faint cocoa. Fades fast. Added a second slather. Same. But then... Huh wut? It dries to a gorgeous clove incense. Wow. I never got the plum or sandalwood. But the drydown is pure beauty. Strange, smoky. I really love this one.

Strong ginger at first, and spices. Over a base of Snake Oil. And I remember now that I don't actually like gingerbread. Many years ago I worked in a restaurant where the chef used to put plates of gingerbread loaf out for starving waiters and cooks, no doubt to discourage us from grabbing fries out from under the heat lamps. Being young and poor I was always hungry. But I got pretty tired of the stuff.

Gingerbread Snake has a cakey, spicey base. But the spice is quite sharp, almost nose-stinging. It's a little aggressive, as scents go. As it dries down, it goes slightly dusty on me. I think I'm in the minority in preferring Snakes in the Pumpkin Patch to this. But then, I'm not a gingerbread fan. Glad I had a chance to try it, though.

I love plum. Kitsune Tsuki, Lovers in a Ricefield, and Prunella are my favorites. Midwinter's Eve is good, too,

Red wine usually goes so wrong on me (Halloween Las Vegas on my skin is wine barf ). Roses can smell like stale beer. And myrrh often seems thin and sharp. I would normally have steered well clear of this one but I'm on a mission to try all the GC's (or as many of them as time and finances allow).

At first Lilith smells vegetal and pickly, like a pimento. But before I have a chance to be disappointed, the red wine swirls up, mingled with rose. But it's lovely, not in the least sour or off. And then something smells sweet. Someone else said it smelled like honey. And then the end stage of powdery lemony black musk. I quite like Lilith. But then I almost always like black musk. I'm not sure when I would wear this, but I imagine I will find an occasion sometime. It's sweet and warm, and morally ambivalent. Nice.

I could pretty much quote the above review verbatim. It's the tobacco which turns almost everything that has it into men's cologne on me. Le Lethe is quite sharp on my skin, with the tobacco and hemlock front and center, and it's not doing me any favors.