Poenari

I just got my order from The Soapbox Co today, with the following never-before-sniffed scents: Xia, Kill Switch, Trauma, and Quick or Dead in Whipped, Trauma and Quick or Dead in soaps. I had to test each of the scents right away.

 

So far my favorite is Kill Switch. I think it will be perfect for layering with Crypt Queen, Prospero, and Mme. Moriarty. On my little arm-testing site I don't get much scent at all from Trauma or Xia- I wonder if they need a little more time to "cure." If not, at least I will be able to layer them freely with almost any BPAL I own. Unfortunately, I am not at all happy with my initial test of Quick or Dead. It's definitely got a strong leather smell, but there is another note overpowering the leather that smells like a mens' bathroom to me. That one might have to go straight to the swap pile...

Very strong red wine scent. Almost too boozy, but the honey sweetens it and the myrrh darkens it. I almost get a chocolate note- that might be the myrrh reacting to my body chemistry. I like this but not enough to get a bottle. This invokes a similar "feeling" to me as Centzon Totochtin, which I prefer.

I'm looking for my ultimate clove blend. I've tried Malice, The Smiling Spider, the Wild Men of Jezirat al Tennyn, Dracul, Wrath, Troll, and Madrid, and while many of them are very nice, and a few are in regular rotation, they haven't been what I was looking for. But every time there are new clove blends, I'm hopeful. Every time.

Valentine of Rome and Mort de Cesar! They are heavy on the clove to me- both are LE's but fairly available. Also, I didn't get any clove from Dracul at all, and wondered what everyone was talking about. I set my bottle aside (it's now aged for two years) and just tried it again this week, and it's OMGClove!

 

If you like dragon's blood, then I also recommend Blood. It's all clove and dragon's blood, and one of my very very favorites.

I thought I already asked this, but apparently not....

I live in dread of running out of my beloved Crypt Queen. Has anyone come up with something similar enough to keep me from crying when it's gone? I did a search of this thread, and found one recommendation, for Mme. Moriarty. I agree that the Mme. could be a distant relative, but I am hoping that someone can recommend another option.

Very disappointing to me, because I like all of the individual notes. But this smells like a tiny bathroom that has extra rolls of dry toilet paper, the industrial kind, stacked on the back of the toilet. Not disgusting, just not a pleasant smell.

So far, my favorite combos of Villianess Whipped and BPAL are:

Grundy and Premature Burial

Grundy and Crypt Queen

Proserpina and Mme. Moriarty

 

and I'm off to try the earlier recommendation of Embargo and Urd- I bet that will be my favorite.

 

Have you tried Proserpina with Crypt Queen? OMGYUM.

 

OMG you are soooo right about Proserpina and Crypt Queen! I wore them today and caught amazing wafts of scent coming from me all day long!

 

And the Embargo/Urd combo is definitely made of win!

So far, my favorite combos of Villianess Whipped and BPAL are:

Grundy and Premature Burial

Grundy and Crypt Queen

Proserpina and Mme. Moriarty

 

and I'm off to try the earlier recommendation of Embargo and Urd- I bet that will be my favorite.

Ah hah! I found you!

 

I'm a cinnamoholic who can't take the a lot of the other notes in most of the blends. So far, my cinnamon loves are Inferno, Uranus, Wrath and Eclipse. I couldn't wear Chimera, Priala, Highwayman, or Bengal.

 

So far in my BPALdom, I haven't even looked heavily at the Snake Pit, but I notice in the search that Saw-scaled Viper has cinnamon and ginger (which I also am rather fond of) in it. But what is cassia like? And does the cinnamon really pop out a lot?

 

Same with Bloodlust and Al-shairan: is there a lot of patchouli in these?

 

I love Bloodlust, but I don't get any cinnamon spicyness from it. On me, it's very heavy on the vetiver and patchouli. For a spicy dragon's blood blend, you might try Tanin'iver. One of the notes is cassia, and when I first opened the bottle, all I could smell was cinnamon. I must amp cassia, because that is the predominant note when I wear it- mmmm all cinnamon and dragon's blood.

I finally tried my frimp of Midnight Kiss, and instead of cocoa being out front and center, I get a wonderful blend of the sandalwood, musk, and patchouli with just a hint of boozy grape. On my skin, it reminds me of a softer, and less GRAPE!!! version of Urd.

 

editing to add another recommendation:

I received a frimp of Centzon Totochtin, and after trying it, I think this one is much closer to Midnight Kiss. It has the same cocoa and boozy wine, but less of the patchouli and musk. I'm afraid layering a little Centzon Totochtin and Urd would be too much grape. I'll have to think about which patchouli/musk scent would be a better layer with the Centzon Totochtin, and will report back later.

I'm a major chocoholic, but as much as I love eating chocolate, I've learned that I hate smelling like it. So even though I was excited to received frimps of Midnight Kiss twice from the lab, I put them right into my imp box for future swapping. Fear of the cocoa kept me from even trying it. Last night I was in the mood to try something new, and thought what the heck, let's do it! Midnight Kiss it is. Well, this is not at all what I expected on my skin! This is all warm sandalwood, musk and patchouli, with a hint of boozy berries. And none of the feared chocolate! I can smell the cocoa in the vial, but it does not come out on my skin at all. I applied before going to bed, and can still smell it on my wrists this morning. This is a lovely scent, and I will now be keeping my frimps, but I have enough other similar scents that I won't need a bottle.

On my skin, Lucifer is a beautiful blend of patchouli and vetiver, with an underlying sweetness that I think must be the fig. I tend to amp vetiver, and this is no exception, but the patchouli also stays right there with it. This is a warm scent, and it lasts forever on my skin. I applied a few drops on my way home from the Cinci meet'n'sniff, and could still smell it hours later when I went to bed that night. Many thanks to Forspecial Plate, who so generously gifted me with this decant of Lucifer!

I do not like grape juice. I do not like grape candy. I do not like grape jelly. At first sniff, Prospero smells like all of these. Why then, do I love it so? On first application, it is the grapiest grape of all, but something about it attracts rather than repels me. After a while, the grape softens, the musk comes to the forefront, and the amber grounds it into a spicy warmth. I just can't get over how surprised I am at how good I smell when I wear this.

I love Fendi, and wore it often until I discovered bpal. I'm probably around your mom's age. I've never tried to find a bpal that specifically mirrors Fendi, but some of my favorite bpal scents are Snake Oil, Dragon's Heart, Mme. Moriarty, and Chrysanthemum Moon. You might let her try imps of those and see what she thinks (decants of Mme. Moriarty and Mum Moon are quite available.) Each of these is different from Fendi, but they all have a spicy vibe on me, some sweeter than others.

Now this I like! Gingerbread Poppet is exactly what I had hoped Shub would be! All spicy gingerbread, none of the lemon. Warm, gooey, spicy gingerbread... mmmmm. Must go bake some now. And I never bake. Ever.

This one is a basic white but dusky floral on me; not bad, but not something I would wear. I love coconut, but it doesn't come through on me enough to overcome the floral. However, this just might suit my daughter. If so, it would be the first BPAL that I have bought that would enable her. I will pass it along and see what she thinks.

2007: I said in another review that I don't usually wear rose scents, but I have heard so much about Peacock Queen, Rose Red, and Snow White that I ordered decants of each to try.

 

Rose Red in the vial is very sharp red roses. Once on my skin, it went straight to my sinuses, as if they were stuck by a thorn, and caused an instant headache. I had to wash it off right away. I'm not having much luck with the Yule scents I've tried.

 

2021: hahahaha and here we are, all these years later, deciding that my nose must have evolved enough to give Rose Red another try! I'm so glad that I did. I only ordered a decant, but that may be remedied soon. 2020/21 Rose Red is deep true red rose, fresh on the vine, not a bland grocery store rose. The scent is luxurious and just perfect. Long lasting too!  What a n00b I was in 2007. 🤣

In the vial, I get the rummy eggnog, but once on my skin, it turned to the sour smell I got from Milk Moon. I had to wash it off right away. Fortunately, it was mild and easy to remove.

I don't usually like to wear rose scents, but having heard so much about Peacock Queen, Snow White, and Rose Red, I ordered decants of each just to try them out.

 

Peacock Queen is definitely my favorite of the three. A dark, pure red rose, very beautiful and dusky in the vial. On me, it didn't morph, but I don't really see myself wearing it. However, my husband loves roses and he will probably like it. Hmmm... I wonder if men can wear rose scents? This might be worth having him try on just to see what happens to it with his chemistry- you never know till you try, right?

At my Halloween party on Saturday, I was Akasha, Queen of the Damned , and I wore Crypt Queen. Today for work, I wore my fabulous green witch's hat and Death of Autumn.

dArtagnan,

There's a whole thread on sexy recommendations here . It's a long thread, but if you read through some of it, you will get lots of great suggestions!

 

edited because I forgot to give you my recommendations!

 

Mme. Moriarty, Misfortune Teller, for a dark red musk, patchouli, vanilla scent with just the mildest hint of fruit; and Bloodlust, which has vetiver to darken the musk, patchouli, and dragon's blood combo.

Death of Autumn is the perfect fall scent. The ground is covered with fall leaves crunching underfoot and I can smell the smouldering fire from the pile of leaves already burning. There are decaying trees and branches nearby, and a slight chill to the air. I really love this! Must order a bottle before it's gone.

To me, this is a highly perfumed walk through the fall leaves. I don't get any smoke, it just smells like autumn to me. And it lasted for hours on my skin! I need to order a bottle.

From the minute Beth commented here that she had this blend coming soon, I couldn't wait. I just knew that Goblin was made for me. I can't believe I'm the first one to review this new scent! Here goes...

Upon opening the bottle, the first thing that hit me was the patchouli, but that was to be expected. I love patchouli, and by its nature, I expect it to come on strongly at first. I coudn't wait, and applied to each wrist. While the patch is foremost, there is a slight sharpness but sweetness mingled in which must be the benzoin and coconut. For those who fear patchouli, this is no dirty hippie scent. The notes are all mingling and swirling into a sweet, spicy, impish goblin. However, patchouli lovers- you must. try. this.

I cannot stop sniffing myself. Ohhhh, I am in love!

edited to add: Beth, thank you so much for making this a GC scent!

I was nervous about the orange in this, as I really don't like anything orange-scented or orange-flavored. But I amp both dragon's blood and red musk, so I hoped that they would overcome any orange. I was right. On my skin, the red musk is the predominant note, with the dragon's blood just underneath it. It's a much softer, lighter version of Dragon's Musk on me- not as musky, if that makes any sense. I'll be able to wear this to work without overpowering anyone.

I don't know what I expected, but the description of all the notes just called to me. I usually love anything with Dragon's Blood.

 

Wet: in the bottle, it's all herbal, and reminiscent of some scent from my distant past that I can't quite recall.

 

On my skin: I can't pick out any particular note, but the blend is beautiful, soft, and neither completely herbal nor floral. And there's that fleeting memory that I've smelled this before.... wait! Earlier in this thread, Taniwha said it smells like the original Herbal Essence- that's it! I used that shampoo when I was in college in the 70's, and this does smell familiar! Don't worry, it doesn't smell like this It just makes me feel happy to wear it.

 

edited: oh noes! spelling error