Nia

Determination is to me everything that is not sweet and creamy in Block Buster. I do like BB, but the smell of Determination was so "not me" that I swapped it away after trying to use it two or three times. I'll stick to Block Buster and Concentration in the future.

Lemongrass and mint and more. Let's see: pure mint, the BPAL Lemongrass single note, and Phobos (which smells of lemongrass and nothing else to me) are so strong they are distracting.

Lush has a temple balm called Whoosh which is meant to help in concentration. It's citrussy. I added a drop of mint AND added equal parts vaseline because, again, it was too distracting.

Concentration is exactly perfect because it has everything in my "improved" whoosh, only sweeter, fresher, and not at all so overwhelming that the only thing I can concentrate on is the smell. It lasts for hours too, although I think that the effect is much more aromatherapeutic than magickal.

ETA: After continued use, I think that Concentration is good if you are tired, unmotivated, uninspired. It hasn't worked for me when I was too stressed. It helps creating energy when I don't have any; for example, it was great to keep me awake in long lecture sessions. On the other hand, if the energy is already there, but it's just creating "mental static electricity", Concentration makes the problem worse for me. It's like trying to relax by drinking coffee.

I applied Charisma on the day I received it, without preparation or a proper ritual, because I was on my way to class and I had to give an oral presentation I didn't feel ready for.

The smell was pleasant but I can't describe it, like others here. A bit floral, a bit musky, and it doesn't smell like beer (ie sour and yeasty) but it somehow reminded me of it. In a way it smells pleasantly reaffirming, although I didn't notice any dramatic effects in class or later. The presentation didn't take place, it was postponed until next week. Let's see.

ETA: I have used Charisma several times, including The Oral Exam on which my chances of getting a job depended. I got a 90%, and the job. I find that Charisma gives me confidence and positive results in the long run.

Wet, it smells like cherry lollipops, sweetened and deepened by the musk. It's the first time that cherry doesn't smell like bitter almonds or something like that, on me. But then the musk and the anise take over and the result is bitter and wrong

For anyone interested in single notes, I've had an imp of lemongrass SN and I can't see a difference with Phobos.

We tried eight scents (Phobos, Thanatos, Dragon's Claw, Othello, Shanghai, Kyoto, a posset, and Alecto). Everything was too sweet or too floral and what could not possibly be either turned soapy. I would have given up on BPAL for him if I had not convinced him that Morocco suits him, and a Tokyo Stomp is on the way. Yay!

 

Of course, if worst comes to worst, you can always take the vanilla SN he likes and layer it with other complementary fragrances too.

oh, that's what he plans to do with Morocco! It is so frustrating because on me it smells of musky vanilla, full stop. On him it smells of the whole spice market from the vanilla stall. I want _his_ smell on my skin. And he still wants to smell of custard.

We tried eight scents (Phobos, Thanatos, Dragon's Claw, Othello, Shanghai, Kyoto, a posset, and Alecto). Everything was too sweet or too floral and what could not possibly be either turned soapy. I would have given up on BPAL for him if I had not convinced him that Morocco suits him, and a Tokyo Stomp is on the way. Yay!

what a mine of suggestions! Thanks!

I have an imp of Dorian, I had forgot about that one because it's from a recent swap. I need to take a good look at my spreadsheet and the box to see if I also have any of the others!

I'm going to get a handful of things for The Boy one of these days and I'm particularly looking for something that smells of vanilla but isn't too sweet.

On him, we like: Belladonna, The Raven, Antony, Death on a pale horse.

We don't like: anything with lotus as he amps it up like crazy. Libertine as his skin swallows it in seconds. He swallows roses too. Croquet goes soapy on him. He seems to make everything smell extra sweet and extra floral. He's not a big fan of musk. He loves a particular brand of vanilla single note (but I want him to smell of something more interesting than custard).

Is there anything like a vanilla-patchouli or herby-vanilla or something like that???

What I detect is the same flowers-on-white-chocolate of the previous edition of 13, but here the chocolate is hardly there. I wouldn't know this had chocolate if I didn't know the description, and even so, it is recognisably a Thirteen, if that makes any sense.

What I detect the more are the fruity, less creamy notes: it's something like ginger-peach-starfruit-orchid, in that order, on a creamy base. I'm glad to have some, but the previous edition is certainly more chocolatey on me.

I'm unlucky with tea blends. they either disappear completely, or the tea note is undetectable. It doesn't matter if the tea is green, white or black. This case is no exception: it smells as if someone had added vanilla to Baoban Sith. Even though the elusive tea note is frustrating, I like this unexpected combination (lemons and vanilla, mmmmm), which is not overwhelmed by the musk at all. Yum.

Initially it smells sweet as candy, like Hanging Gardens. It was disappointing because I didn't expect a scent inspired by Spain (especially Madrid) to be sweet. Later, the wine slowly comes out, with what appear to be roses underneath.

It doesn't take much, about half an hour, for the wine to give way to the mimosa, which for some strange reason smells a lot like roses when the wine is still playing about. After an hour, the barest hint of mimosa is all that is left. Definitely disappointing, and Kali and Wanda are still competing to be my favourite wine scents.

I tried Osun without remembering the lab's description.

Wet, it smells of candy. Not just foody: synthetic candy. It's a good thing I didn0t wash away, because it turned to spicy candy and later to fruity candy. I applied it more than an hour ago and that's what I feel now: something like extremely sweet fruits. Like cherries, or melons. Honey tends to eat up all the other notes on my skin, but this is not the case here.

Besides, I agree with Ladycrow. Even thougfh I know next to nothing about the orishas, I think this is a good scent-for-a-purpose, because it has made me feel instantly happy. That's so odd.

on the imp: a slightly soapy floral that reminds of lilies. Ick.

Wet: a vague, tiny floral hint.

Five minutes later: This smells very little on my skin. It's just a standard floral, in which a rose-jasmine combination is more noticeable than any other element. Not a memorable scent.

The first impression is of alcohol, the same kick on the nose that sniffing alcohol would give. Then it smells of Vicks Vaporub. Medicinal, slightly minty. There's no dirt, flowers, or patchouli. Nevertheless, it's not as bad as other cypress/cedar/ juniper blends so I might keeep it as it does smell refreshing.

On the imp: lemongrass with something playing underneath.

On me: pure lemongrass. The only difference with the lemongrass SN is that the single note is overwhelming and lasts forever, and this one is subtle and lasts about an hour.

Phew! The rosemary is strong, but the notes work well together. Since I have an imp of 2, 5, 7 that I only use for layering, I can make it have as much extra rose as I want, but that doesn't mean this doesn't work well on its own. As time passes it gets more and more floral. Really nice.

ETA: I wrote this review after one use. Now that I've almost used up an imp, I'll expand.

The rosemary is strong only at first. It goes OOHHHH, and then it retreats into the background. It turns into a clean, fresh, floral smell with a hint of rosemary. It is also intensely comforting and relaxing, the type of relaxing smell that clears up stress and helps you be more focused. This could be related to the fact that it smells a lot like baby fragrance - in Spain we like to use special perfumes on babies, and they always smell fresh, clean, light. This is like the luxury version of that. It smells very comfy. I like to use it to study when I'm stressed or when I'm sure that I'm so upset that I'm going to take it out on whoever least deserves it.

The imp smells of powdery lemons.

Wet, it smells like very synthetic room-freshener lemons. Rose and lemon together doesn't sound like such a great idea now.

Dry, it's the same with added ickiness. Still in the search for a fresh BPAL that works on me.

Wet, this smells only of candy, and a bit like a synthetic-flavour strawberry candy. Fig can do that to me.

Dry, the candy is controlled by the spicy notes. I smell like a expensive dessert, like some berry concoction with clove. As time passes, the spice takes over the candy. A very sophisticated scent.

On the imp, this smells delicious, complex, sparkly with the neroli and the orange peel.

Wet, it only smells of bitter almond. Bitter almond smells like The Bitter Almond From Hell on me, so sweet almond smells like a less hysterical bitter almond.

Dry, it smells of... roses and a bit of almond. Another one for the swap pile.

The roses are so strong it smells almost lemony. Then all I get is a combination of sweet pea, which my skin apparently amplifies, and rose. It doesn't change much over time, and the worst thing about it is that I don't detect the ylang ylang at all.

The nag champa & patchouli combination makes me smell like a hippie who hasn't seen the inside of a shower in three months. If I don't think of it as a perfume, it might make a good room scent if I'm in the mood for nag champ-ish incense sticks.

The first review says it all: I completely agree with the musky vanilla verdict. Thevanilla is perfectly creamy, so this feels almost foody, like custard. Not a smell I would associate at all with Morocco, but with Spanish puddings with vanilla, cinnamon, a teensy bit of clove...

Sadly, it doesn't have much throw on me, but it's such a lovely scent that I'd rather slather and use the imp in one or two applications, than to swap.

My only previous contact with lotus was Paris, with has lavender and lotus and smells like lavender and caramel apples on me. This one is so sweet that I thought it must have been mislabeled: too sweet for a rapaccini blend.

After very few minutes, the bubblegum turns into the caramel apples that make me love Paris, so if I ever want to smell like extra sweet Paris, I'll layer both. Otherwise, it's pleasant but too cloying.

The initial note was delicous, warm and foody, but in a matter of seconds all the spice turned to a horrible toasty/burnt smell that lasted for hours and tickled my sinuses.