eoifemacbeth

Damn you, Yankee Candle. You could have at least left me Fearful Pleasure.

Seconded aged Snake Oil. It has nasty, patchouli, powdery ass-tones when fresh (at least to me). Even a few months of aging makes a HUGE difference for me. Now I feel the urge to go bust out my bottle from last year. Mmm.

I'd love to find that scent too. As a quick note, if this yearning ever comes to you on a crisp autumn night, there is absolutely no scent better than the fall-air-and-fires-in-the-distance Singing Moon. It is incomparably evocative and lovely.

I always love Whedonverse threads. I've been imaging BPAL correlations to Whedon characters for years. But hey everybody---where's the Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog love? Billy/Dr. Horrible---Villain. It's a really light, clean-boy scent to me, which would be perfect for Billy, and then Dr. Horrible (I ACTUALLY just typed "Hottible," what a Freudian typo, that is hilarious) would be all MUA HA HA IT IS CALLED VILLIAN AND I AM ONE. A VILLAIN, THAT IS. Penny---a mix of Dirty and Tamora; a light, sweet scent, like a girl's fading perfume mixed with Laundromat smell Captain Hammer---Casanova, without a doubt. The manliest man smell that ever manned. Bad Horse---Gunpowder, of course! I'm going to have to ruminate on Buffy scents, though I came up with some pretty good Firefly ones in the thread above.

I can't wear red musk (turns into a startlingly realistic BO scent). I can't wear patchouli (I have visceral reactions to it; it literally makes me sick). I can rarely wear spices (only when they're tempered by fruits or sweets, usually). I can wear most vanillas, but not some (a lot of them come off burnt on me). I've been into BPAL for three or four years and I've tried Snake Oil at least once per year. Now, suddenly, I win a bottle in the Upper Hembree Whole Foods' solstice party drawings, try on their (somewhat) aged tester, and am HOOKED. IT IS SO AWESOME. LIKE COOKIES. AND SEX. Suddenly I can wear red musk! Patchouli isn't bothering me! The spices are low, dirty and extremely luscious! The vanilla is unbelivably smoky-sweet and sexy! I'm going to have to buy about four bottles and age them. Damn this addiction

Strawberry Moon is perfect---even my skin which hates lotus and most tea blends turned it into lovely juicy strawberry goodness. I sold my two bottles a while ago out of necessity and I miss it a little, but it's like pulling teeth to find some now! Good luck! My skin eats strawberry but I'd say Bon Vivant would be a great one for you. On my sister it smells like fresh strawberries and a hint of fizz, like sparkly strawberry soda.

I found Embalming Fluid to be very similar.

I'm not too sure about the spirit-lifting capabilities of BPAL on light to medium hangovers, but I will vouch for Lush's Happy Hippy and BPAL's Spirits of the Dead as being the only scents I can stand to have near me if I'm in a serious (headache, vomit, etc.) hangover. Something about the very light and refreshing citrus really helps calm my stomach and doesn't aggravate nausea or head pain.

This is like... ...this is like if Underpants went on vacation in Hawaii. It's got all that gorgeous smooth sandalwood vanilla (without the odd saffron note, which I always thought was a little funky anyway) but with a pinch of apricot, a dash of lily and a smattering of ginger. It's really just incredible. An instant BPAL classic---you have to smell it to believe it.

I immediately thought of Fire Pig---it has an amazing litchi note unlike any of Beth's other blends with litchi. The light, fruity notes of Fire Pig seem as though they would blend beautifully with Bon Vivant. It's an LE but it wasn't super-duper popular; you could probably find an imp on the sale section. Good luck!

Oh! Everyday jasmine! Phantasm! I really dislike jasmine but I absolutely loved Phantasm. Crisp, sweet, and clear, with a jasmine base. Beautiful!

Pumpkin pie and lavender (hopefully not together ) supposedly attracts guys. I haven't tried BPAL yet but supposedly Jack is a really pumpkin-y scent? And now that I've said that and you guys have been like, "Duh, pumpkin," I am remembering the reaction I got from my intermediate jazz class last year the first time I tried out Pumpkin Queen at school. They were all over me, it was absolutely hilarious! Memo to self: Pumpkin V the next time I'm hanging out with hot school of music guys...

I was browsing through luckyscents.com (curses on the girl on LJ's bpal_mafia who added a link of this... I'm positively drooling!) and came across Garnet, a roll-on perfume by Sage. The notes listed are "Moroccan red rose, gardenia, watermelon, blackberry, Tunisian amber, patchouli, vanilla," and I immediately thought that it sounded like a fruitier Haunted Palace ("red rose, Tunisian amber, blood orange, toasted vanilla, heliotrope, gardenia and red musk"). Might be worth a shot if you love Haunted Palace!

I'm still on the hunt for the ultimate boy magnet without red musk or patchouli. Now there's a conundrum

I refuse to be greedy, but I'll admit it was hard to make myself post this Try and find some Queen of Clubs! It's a spectacular rose-vanilla incense scent, with an undercurrent of earth and floating topnotes of pomegranate and currants. It's in my opinion one of the best scents Beth has blended to date.

Let's see. My ultimate blends. I'm still on the hunt for the ultimate vanilla. Antique Lace wasn't it (though it was gorgeous, it was way too strong with my chemistry), Tombstone wasn't it (too cedary and mannish), Zarita wasn't it (burnt sugar ahoy), Bigger Critters wasn't it (almost perfect, but one of the five vanillas was Zarita's burnt sugar), Alice is amazing and lovely but more of a carnation blend, Dorian wasn't it (too much musk, especially aged), Dragon's Milk wasn't it, O wasn't it, Snake Oil wasn't it, Snake Charmer wasn't it, Underpants wasn't it. Fairy Market was almost it---a marshmallowy, soft scent wet; dry, it blossomed into the incense, lavender, and grassy sugar. Gorgeous, but not it. I want just a dry, soft vanilla, more of a vanilla flower scent than a vanilla extract scent. I almost think Mr. Ibis might be it. Except my nose tends to wrinkle at Beth's aloe note. Other than my decade-long search for the perfect vanilla, I'm also looking for the ultimate dirt. I have a feeling I'd go apeshit over Graveyard Dirt, but seriously, like I'm ever going to find it. Destroying Angel was close but turned into Chanel No. 5 on the drydown (...I don't know), and Death Cap is beautiful but laced with vanilla. I really need to get another imp of Zombi. But I must say I'm happy---I've found my ultimate signature scent. Queen of Clubs. If you ask me, it's one of Beth's most beautiful blends, hands-down. Feminine without being girly, sweet without being cloying, earthy without being "Were you making mud pies or something?", floral without being "AAAAUGH GET IT OFF," incensey without being a headshop, and dries into a lingering vanilla-rose-dirt-incense. I may have to anoint my room with this, seriously. Palastinalied---have you tried Cheshire Cat? I tried every GC and most LE grapefruits and didn't like any of them enough to call one my "perfect grapefruit," but Cheshire Cat is it.

Let's see... Musky vanilla: Dorian for a brighter, more golden scent; Antique Lace for more of an ivory. Aquatic vanilla: Black Opal Citrus and vanilla: I haven't found one yet, but I think Zephyr would be a good opening move. Berries with vanilla: Australian Copperhead. Oh god, it's so good. Pipe tobacco: Can't help you there---but a lot of people mention Herr Drosselmeyer, I think? Coconut: I LOVE Black Pearl. It's the only coconut I can wear. Grapefruit: Hands-down, Cheshire Cat. I tried every grapefruit in the GC, disliked them all, then found Cheshire Cat. It's perfect. Jasmine: Monsterbait: biggerCritters. Jasmine buttercreme. Cognac I can't help you with, sorry but I think it's safe to say Formula 54 is the "ultimate" cognac. Earthy/dirt rose scent: Seconding Zombi. Queen of Clubs too... I hesitate to ever recommend that, because I'm so obsessed with finding it that I don't want competition! Hope some of this helps you. Have fun!

Allow me to chuck my vote in for Maiden, which is a blend of white tea, Damask rose, and carnation. It's a fairly effortless, light, sweet scent that just makes you feel pretty. As an added bonus, even if roses don't work on you (they are awful on me), Maiden should still be fine!

I'll admit it; I'm a Beyond Paradise junkie too. I only have the teensiest sample bottle (it's actually quite adorable), so I ration it heavily, and when I find myself craving it but aren't willing to actually use it, I reach for Black Pearl. The notes are totally different but it's got a really similar feel to it---the lush tropical blooms and sort of deep background notes. It's a fantastic blend. (And no, not just because it gives me an excuse to walk around talking like a pirate when I wear it. )

I've got two things, yay! If you like Antique Lace, you cannot live without Lush's American Cream. They smell JUST the same. (I've had boys making excuses to hug me and smell my hair all day!) And if you've ever been into an Anthropologie store, you'll immediately recognize Katharina. It smells just like how the stores smell---that cool, retro-bohemian sweet orange blossom.

I second Three Witches. It's really lovely especially if you're a spicy girl. And I fourth? fifth? Bengal, which was AMAZING, just not on me (my best friend smells heavenly with it on though and every guy we know agrees!). Good luck!

Carnal, Carnal, Carnal, Carnal. I'm a mandarin orange girl myself (my signature scent pre-BPAL was Breathe Delight from Bath and Body Works, which is pretty much the brightest, summeriest, purest orange on the market) and I've found a great love in Carnal. It sort of smells like tutti fruitti in the bottle, which is off-putting, but once it's on it's bright sweet mandarin love with the tiniest bit of sweet fig tagging along. Beautiful.

I'm surprised no one's recommended Pain yet---the pennyroyal blends so fantastically in with the lavender you can barely smell it at all, it just gives a little depth and loveliness. I wear it to bed and it works like a charm. ETA: I love lavender too, so I've lately been on a BPAL lavender binge, trying all the blends I can find. Paris was all ugly cloying lotus on me (and refused to wash off for almost a day), and Twilight was all honeysuckle. I've yet to try Safari and TKO, and I'm looking into trying the Somnium blends, but from what people say I'm thinking that's your---and my---best bet.

I'm so shocked nobody's said anything about Destroying Angel - it's my favorite dirt note thus far! It's moist, cool earth - rained-on earth. Fantastic stuff.

Tempest is gorgeous---I'm a clean scent girl too and it's in my top three. It really does smell like the ground just before it rains. Clear and beautiful.