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Oooh! I love the idea of a spring cleaning swap!

In the colder months of the year I love heavier scents, anything patchouli or red or black musk. Thankfully, scents like that have a good, long wear length on me.

As spring approaches (or at least the thought of spring), I like to wear lighter scents (it's actually one of the few times of the year that florals are anything but anathema lol). The only trouble is, those lighter, springier scents are so fleeting on me. Does anyone have any recs for lighter scents that they've found to have a longer wearlength? Dorian is the only one I've found that lasts a fair among of time on me, though even though it's light, for some reason I associate it with fall.

Some of my favorite "lighter" scents are Gennivre, L'Artiste du Diable, The Oblation, Carnivale Diabolique, and Lady Una.

Any ideas?

A lot of rose scents go wonky on me, but one I really love and wear frequently is the Turkish Village. The coffee and rose are balanced perfectly.

It may be difficult to find, but Diary of a Lovestruck Teenage Cannibal I think is the pinkest scent I own.

That is really nice! The original Alice turns to soap on me, but with this the notes stay true. The pumpkin and spice is balanced nicely with the rose and carnation, and gives Alice a creamy depth. Surprisingly, it also lasted a long time on my skin. This is a pumpkin blend that could be worn year round, not just for fall.

Absolutely!

I'm thinking of doing a newbie GC imp swap. Maybe 20 GC imps that people could test and swap out if they wanted?

This is really beautiful. When I first put it on, the nut note was really strong, like dry nut hulls, but that went away very quickly. Overall it reminds me very much of Snake Charmer with a bit of cocoa in the mix. It's very well blended. It doesn't have a ton of throw (on me), but lasts a long time- I'm on 6 hours and can still smell it wafting lightly.

To me this smells exactly like a mix between Empyreal Mist and Rose Red. A nice, springy scent, and a noteworthy floral since it doesn't seem to go powdery or soapy.

I don't get any of BPAL's usual "snow" note from this, instead, as others have said it reminds me VERY much of Snow White. She's never been my favorite though, so I'm good with my little imp.

I was really expecting more Snake Oil from this. When I put it on, it smells very similar to Gingerbread Poppet (I even did a side by side comparison and was surprised how similar they were). It has a bit of extra sweetness from the red musk. I do like it, though I was hoping for a bit more Snakeyness. Still, as I love all things Gingerbread, I do like this. I think it will age really well.

This is pretty. Slightly soapy, slightly perfumey... It actually reminds me of a sweeter version of Asphodel.

 

On a completely different topic--concerning the Rare & LE circular from last fall(?)-- I'm hoping to get a second round going. Hopefully, this will be either the end of this month or the beginning of next month. This one will include atmo. spray samples and bath oils.

It could also be split into two boxes, I think.

Right now, it's just trying to figure out the best way to ship the lovely scents safely, and still keep cost down.

Any suggestions?

I would do the flat rate priority boxes- the medium or large size. That way there'd be room for everything (with plenty of bubble wrap) and people would also know how much shipping the box would cost when they sign up for the swap (since I'm imagining things could get heavy by the end of the swap). I think if there were just a bunch of snack size or sandwich size ziplock bags it would contain any mess from leaking atmos or bath oils. Plus I think the flat rate boxes come with some free insurance.

 

Funny you should mention this! I was planning to do one in January after all the holiday madness dies down! I was planning to include seeds, because there are some seeds that can be started as early as January (indoors of course) in my area. But I'm all for this as long as we can keep it relatively inexpensive!

 

And if you help me run it, we could allow more swappers in, right?

 

That sounds awesome! Would a price cap of $30-$35 work? I actually think it could be done for around half that maybe, if people were crafty(or had a billion tons of seed that they *really* want to share with the world). I know that I've found amazing garden gloves, and the best hand pruners, at places like Ross and TJMaxx for $7. Plus, the crafty, wonderful people among us could make garden totes, or those hammered spoon plant tag stakes-- or even some pretty rope.

But a just seed swap would be fabulous, also. The one you ran last year was great, and really helped expand on what we can grow out here(okra does not appear to be one of those things, sadly).

I'd be interested in a garden swap!

I almost didn't get this since I have bad associations with cherry scented things (they always seem to remind me of cough drops), and almond is frequently too much on me, but I was surprised to find that I really like this! It's very evocative of the description- I really want to east this! It's a nice non-buttery bakery scent similar to the cake note in The Knave of Hearts mixed with a light jellied cherry and apricot scent. It's very realistic smelling and for being a dessert scent, isn't too sweet. It's a perfect holiday scent!

This is wonderful. It's a warm patchouli, so it must be the red patchouli as opposed to black. The coconut gives it a little bit of woody foodiness while being not at all suntan lotion-like. This has pushed its way towards the top of my most worn bpals. I don't really get much benzoin from it, just delicious patchouli and coconut.

This is very, very similar to Madagascan Vanilla Rum, but it's just a little bit darker. It has a nice, warm, vanilla caramel scent. It's not strongly tonka-y (or what I usually think of as tonka), but it's a lovely, dark, vanilla scent.

WILF, oh WILF, I wanted to love you! I actually do, after two hours, but before then it is extremely weird on my skin. It kind of has a cola-snake oil vibe. Once it dries down it's absolutely fantastic, but I've decided to let my bottle go since it's a long time to wait. I do have weird skin chemistry however, so I'm thinking that's it. I wouldn't mind holding on to an imp to put on something, since as I said, the later dry down is wonderful and warm and snuggly. I have a bit on my coat from slathering it on one day, and even now, my coat smells fantastic.

I think I haven't tried much with Black Patchouli, because I was expecting to love this, but it was very woody on me. I didn't really get any of the honey or vanilla amber because I felt the woody, dry patchouli dominated everything.

I was finally able to test some Boomslang! I'm a fan of snake oil blends, so I knew it would be a winner. Testing Boomslang actually reminded me quite a bit of #occupywallstreet with the cocoa and warm patchouli. It didn't last as long as some snake oil blends do on my skin, Womb Furie particularly, but it did hang around for a while.

I'm looking forward to the Carnavale coming again, because this one is definitely bottle worthy.

This is wonderful! It's exactly the dandelion note from Fairy Wine, Roadhouse, and One to Tie, Two to Win. It's bright, summery, and slightly green, non traditional floral. It'll be wonderful for the hot days of summer.

This one was very odd, since for me it should be the perfect scent. What I got instead was fruit loops, like Single Note: Fruit Loops. Very strange.

Question for the patchouli lovers out there...

 

which do you think would be better for me

 

Red or Black?

 

As most of you know I love foodie, gourmand scents the most, but LOVE Banshee Beat! So if I had to go with Red or Black what would you recommend?

I like the red better than black. I find the black very dry and woody, where the red (to me) is sweet and rich and delicious. I haven't tried Banshee Beat (though by all means, you could send me some) , it seems to be red patchouli in #occupywallstreet and Goblin I think, which according to what I've read has some similarities to BB.

This is absolutely wonderful. I had high hopes because I love all the notes, and really enjoyed the oats in Gunpowder.

In The Harvesters, all the notes meld together to make a slightly sweet (but not foody), comforting blend. I was worried about it being too woody or too sweet from the wine or pear, but it's just perfect. I doesn't have too much throw, but is a gorgeous, close to the skin scent. I can see myself wearing this a lot.

Thank you so much Beth for the generosity in offering these bottles, and a giant thank you for marsmomma for picking up a bottle for me!