witchling

 

 

I love ambergris!

 

eldritch drunken constellations is amazing! and it pops up in forum sales.

 

black forest is gorgeous. anthony, satyr and vicomte de valmont are all very much colognes, but they are beautiful and, I think, wearable by ladies alike.

 

 

http://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/product-tag/ambergris-accord/ shows some other scents currently available. diamond star is on the soft side as is autumn overlooked my knitting, so you might enjoy that one.

 

each of the scents shows a different side of the ambergris, so none are going to be dupes, but hopefully you'll find something you also enjoy wearing.

 

my current favorite scent with ambergris is curved sky. http://centuryguild.net/collections/scented-oils/products/curved-sky-limited-edition-scented-oil-from-black-phoenix-alchemy-lab

 

for me, it is heavy on the opoponax so it's going to be different than knitting. think a swirl of citrus where the current is and delicious resin instead of autumn leaves. it's one of my top ten bpals.

 

i just realized curved sky is still available for purchase?! your description of curved sky sounds really lovely. how would you say it compares to eldritch drunken constellations?

 

they are very different. I love them both, but they are different. curved sky is heavy on the opoponax, chewy glorious resiny goodness. the citrus is strong wet, then it dies down and the dry scent is rich and magical and , uh, chewy. (reading the reviews page, I see that other people had different experiences, so you may as well)

 

I sometimes tend to like the weirder bpals, and this is maybe one of them. it's so pretty and strange and huffable that I hate to call it weird, but I think that if you tend to prefer more classic perfumes, this might not be one you reach for very much.

 

eldritch is brighter and lighter in tone (it has a good through and wear length) and smoother and creamier.

 

I'm sadly not doing them justice here, but they are different but each is fantastic.

 

thanks for the descriptions! i want to try them both but im always so hesitant to blind buy any bottles, even if they do sound wonderful. im sure i'll cave and get at least one of your recs though!

I love ambergris!

 

eldritch drunken constellations is amazing! and it pops up in forum sales.

 

black forest is gorgeous. anthony, satyr and vicomte de valmont are all very much colognes, but they are beautiful and, I think, wearable by ladies alike.

 

 

http://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/product-tag/ambergris-accord/ shows some other scents currently available. diamond star is on the soft side as is autumn overlooked my knitting, so you might enjoy that one.

 

each of the scents shows a different side of the ambergris, so none are going to be dupes, but hopefully you'll find something you also enjoy wearing.

 

my current favorite scent with ambergris is curved sky. http://centuryguild.net/collections/scented-oils/products/curved-sky-limited-edition-scented-oil-from-black-phoenix-alchemy-lab

 

for me, it is heavy on the opoponax so it's going to be different than knitting. think a swirl of citrus where the current is and delicious resin instead of autumn leaves. it's one of my top ten bpals.

i just realized curved sky is still available for purchase?! your description of curved sky sounds really lovely. how would you say it compares to eldritch drunken constellations?

thanks guys! i may just have to hunt down a bottle of eldritch drunken constellations...

i had tried lyonesse a couple years back and i remember liking it, but maybe it was a little too girly? i don't quite remember what it was- i only liked it but didnt love it.

also, annemathematics, thanks for showing me that search function! i'm intrigued by diamond star but i wish it wasn't $30.

apparently i really like ambergris? i didn't even know what ambergris was but i have tried "autumn overlooked my knitting" and fallen in love. it doesn't smell like anything ive ever tried from bpal so i assume it is the ambergris? can anyone recommend other scents (preferably GC) that are ambergris heavy or smell anything like "autumn overlooked my knitting"?

black temple burlesque troupe with pine!

thus, this did not work for me. it had the same powderyness that i cannot stand with BTBT. the pine is a pleasant one though, and if BTBT works with your skin chemistry, then i imagine this is probably just as wonderful, if not more, because the pine gives it a little extra zing.

i was hoping for what the above review described so i immediately ordered a bottle unsniffed...

so sad... after testing it, it went straight to pure baby powder on me. bf said it was like "secret doedorant. i really should have known, given my history with black musks. off to sales...

i was hoping to like this one after i read reviews about creamy vanilla coconut patchouli...

i think im going to let it age a bit and retest. i love patchouli but the patchouli in this is just too much. its a dry overwhelming dark patchouli and i get the pencil shavings comparison. it calms down a little bit after a few hours and its better but still not quite there. when i went to bed that night my boyfriend said it smells like cigarettes in our room and i think it was mr. goblin that he was smelling

I'm in complete love with heretic. Wow. How do I get more of this so I can bathe in it? My bf also likes this one and he wants to wear it so i'll have to hide my bottle since I don't think I can share this unless I somehow get more! It's not too masculine though at all to me. It's just perfect. My only complaint is that after an hour or so it loses a lot of throw so I have to keep reapplying bc I can't stop myself!

thank you for posting that search link!!! i've been trying to figure out how to do that with no success!

My first thought would be to look at the common notes in the blends that don't work (tobacco? orchid?). But also keep in mind that different variants of note types may react in different ways on your skin. For example, I *adore* red musk, but skin musk generally turns into stale b.o. on me. Blood musk is hit or miss.

The more you experiment, the better you will get at picking out scents. When there are unfamiliar notes in blends (or familiar notes that I'm just not experienced enough to pick out of a blend), I like to use the search function to find a list of blends that contain the given note. That has helped me identify several death notes and several favorites. (Of course, that approach will work better once you have some testing under your belt).

Good luck!

i received this as a frimp and was not expecting to like it. when it was wet i was sure i would hate it. but once dry, and especially as it ages on my skin throughout the day, this is a wonderful lovely vanilla. most of the vanillas i have tried have either gone powdery or plasticy and end up reminding me of babies or small children. this one doesnt, the vanilla is just perfect. at times i catch a little bit of a perfumey floral scent that im not crazy about but its faint enough that i still really like lyonesse. im really surpised by this one!

might have to get a bottle eventually, as this is a good scent for work.

thanks! you're right about a thousand different chemistries! it's really interesting to read about everyone's different reactions and preferences!

I vote it's the orchid. Orchid goes wonky and "perfumey" on me. Honey is not my friend either; it's either too cloying or smells post-coitus on me

 

Snake oil is mostly Siberian musk, I think.

 

Twisted Oak doesn't list any musk; maybe it's the oak (or teak in the other blends)? Maybe the moss; moss and oakmoss are pretty traditional scents in commercial perfume/cologne. Maybe that's what gives you the cologne vibe. Moss is also an ingredient in chypre ( read here) which would give you the cologney scent recognition.

 

Hehe, a thousand users, a thousand different chemistries! Good luck with your search!

snake oil goes a little powdery on me too, but i still love it. i'll have to try vixen! and snake pits too, i've been eyeing them but not so easy to get...

Snake Oil and Vixen (as well as the Snake Pit scents and Spanked) are my Red Musk exceptions. I can wear them and NOT have old man cologne. Everything else though does it for me. I've decided it's something about the combination of that particular red musk with that particular patchouli (which loves me) and spices. Although, I prefer many of the Snake Pits (and spanked and Vixen) to Snake Oil. SO actually goes a bit powdery on me. (And lately, so does Vixen.)

well, the way i see it, its worth buying some cheap imps to help figure out which scents wont work on me. because in the long run, figuring out what works and what doesnt will save money. i guess im just finding out that my skin chemistry is on the uncooperative side. i have already succumbed to spreadsheet madness but i haven't listed the specific notes in each blend on it. i think i'll do that so i can be more obsessive and look for patterns

bheansidhe, i think i'll have to take your advice and get some imps with the notes i suspect i will hate. though that takes a lot of discipline when i could instead get some that i know i will love

 

i hadn't thought that it was the tobacco but that is a definite possibility. ill have to hunt down some tobacoo containing imps!

 

Oh no! I don't mean to waste money on imps you might hate. While it would probably be a fun experiment to find a really tobacco-y or orchid-y blend for $1 or $2 on the forum, and see if it does the same cologne thing on you, you can always resell it or swap it away. But I guarantee that the longer you try BPALs, the more you'll run across the notes you suspect aren't working. Just keep trying blends that sound appealing and join us in SPREADSHEET MADNESS. Keeping notes on how each blend tests out will give you an idea of what scents probably aren't your friend.

 

Or you can join a circular swap (those these can be slow, and you're testing imps that are pretty aged by the time they come to you). Or you can find people who offer quarter-imp decants of the recent LEs; I picked up an inexpensive tester set of the recent Weenies (and I'm glad I did, because only one of the ones I thought I'd love worked on me).

huh thats interesting... i hadn't even considered musk to be the culprit since i really love snake oil. doesnt snake oil have red musk or am i totally wrong?

what a complex, confusing world i've entered by falling for bpal!

I vote it's the musk. I CANNOT wear any musk with very occasional exception of red musk and then only in very select blends. Musk = grandpa cologne on me. EVERY. TIME.

so basically you are telling me to try alllllll the smells? then keep them all and try them again later? sounds fine to me but my bank account will not agree!

It can take a while to figure out what works and what doesn't, so don't get discouraged quite yet. Also, bear in mind that things often smell different on your skin at different times of the month, depending on your hormone levels and so forth, so always try a particular scent a few times before you give up on it. (There's also aged vs fresh vs different batches to consider.)

 

Some components might work on you when paired with certain other components, and vice versa. It seems like every time I decide I can't wear anything with such-and-so in it, along comes a blend with that note that smells great on me!

 

Half the fun is the experimentation.

bheansidhe, i think i'll have to take your advice and get some imps with the notes i suspect i will hate. though that takes a lot of discipline when i could instead get some that i know i will love

i hadn't thought that it was the tobacco but that is a definite possibility. ill have to hunt down some tobacoo containing imps!

ok so this isn't so much a post for recommendations for scents to try, it's more of a recommendation of scents to stay away from. im still fairly new to bpal and lately im finding that quite a few scents that i am expecting to love, end up smelling way too cologne-y.

most recently die sunde and le lethe did this but i know some others have in the past but i cant remember offhand.i do remember the twisted oak smelled cologne-like on me (though on my bf i loved it)... its like all i can smell is a cologne-ish base, i can't pick up anything else! why is this? is that simply how these scents are meant to smell?

heres are the descriptions of both that went terrible on me this week. could is be orchid? or the musks??

Red musk and sweat-damp golden skin musk with labdanum, golden amber, nutmeg, tobacco absolute, black orchid, and hemlock accord.

Blood musk, hothouse orchid, fig leaf, frankincense, white amber, and tobacco honey.

i bought this unsniffed based on the reviews and after wearing it all day today, i already decided i must order my first backup bottle of anything. the honey in this comes across very faint to me and the red musk isnt even that strong. i can see the snake oil comparison though this is quite different. i get some kind of spiciness and faint incense smell. i think this is what i was hoping samhain would smell like. its a perfect scent for autumn though i can see myself wearing it year round

I am so glad you decided to give Thalia a whirl and it turned out okay! I don't think there was a single winner in my first batch of imps, and really it all came down to me picking notes I THOUGHT I liked, as opposed to what actually works for my skin chemistry.

 

And RE: training your nose -- I compare the "baby powder" phenomenon to something akin to olfactory white noise (especially for new BPAL noses). Notes like honey and amber are not a singular note, but very complex blends in and of themselves. So when smelling these scents without having experience with the smell of some of the individual components, IME it just tends to read "powder." Now, your skin chemistry may very well make certain notes MORE powdery, but as you become more familiar with BPAL you may come back to these scents and find they aren't so powdery after all.

olfactory white noise! what an awesome analogy. well since im still sort of a newb, i'll have to come back to some of my baby powder imps again once my nose is smarter

when wet this smells like some kind of candy i remember from when i was a kid, but for the life of me i cant remember what candy. the smell of this almost makes my teeth hurt at first! it must be some internal scent memory that im associating with eating too much candy as a kid or something. anyway, at first it almost sickened me but once it dries down, it becomes warm and brown sugarey. it still smells super sweet but it becomes bearable to me. the scent fades pretty fast on me though, not much lasting power

the same exact thing happened to me when i first started trying bpal scents. i tried quite a few imps and almost all of them went straight to baby powder and i was so sad! i thought, maybe something is wrong with my skin and it morphs everything into baby powder oh no!! but i kept trying and then i found many that dont go baby powder at all. i really like musk/patchouli scents the best so i dont really have any suggestions other than not to give up! you will eventually find scents that you love.

and im still pretty new so maybe someone else can give you better advice

boo smelled amazing to me in the bottle and when first on my skin, like vanilla cake batter. once it dried, the vanilla cake batter took second place to a clean laundry scent. it's a comforting scent to me. it doesnt smell bad, but its just not a scent i would wear regularly.

i should mention that when my boyfriend smelled it, he said it smells like the beach...which im guessing might mean sunscreen?