arachne

Without a doubt, Madame Moriarty, asuming it's still available. As it ages it gets so much better. It's got an opium-like quality to it that makes me swoon.

I bought it for my husband and absolutely adore the way it smells on him. I decided to test it on myself today and even on me it's lovely! Wet on my skin it's all juniper. As it starts to dry down, the amber turns golden sweet, but doesn't get powdery at all. The vanilla starts to warm, adding a comforting and delicious spice to the mix...the juniper is still there, but it moves into the background. This is gorgeous! I can't stop smelling my wrist. I don't get any rosewood or white pine. Hmmmm, the more I sniff my wrist, the more I think I might have to snag this from my husband's stash.

I can detect the pear in the bottle, but once it hits my skin it's all olibanum, with the orchid, jonquil, gardenia and champaca blended softly in the background. This is absolutely amazing. It loves my skin! It's sweet and soapy. I get so many compliments and I find the scent very long lasting in a lingering musky sort of way. Although sweet, the oakmoss keeps it from getting too fruity and the clove kicks it up just a notch. This scent is like liquid Goddess.

I wish I bought 2 bottles!

I'm really loving Pepper. There is so much going on, but it's incredible how well blended it is. The one note that stands out for me is the ginger. It's not a sharp ginger, but soft and subdued. I imagine the mix of florals is what's giving it such a romantic feel and the blood orange is quite obvious in the dry down on me, which is just fine. I'm so glad I bought a full bottle of this. It makes me feel unique and kick ass. ...just like Pippin Galadriel Moonchild, aka Pepper herself

Wild English roses, French gardenia, vanilla, honey, golden ginger, blood orange, pine resin, pink pepper, crushed berries, tuberose, bergamot, and geranium.

Oh wow. Thank you so much Beth, for throwing me this frimp. Not sure I would have ever tried it otherwise. This is a very complex, well blended scent that dries to a seriously spicy floral on me. I wish I could pinpoint the exact flower, but I just can't. Carnation maybe? I don't know, but whatever it is I'm in love. Wearing this makes me want to tell ghost stories. This is haunting. It's nostalgic, pungent and mournful, like a bouquet of flowers that was tossed in the corner of a basement and forgotten about years ago. I don't get any cherry or almond, thank the Gods. Those two notes rarely work well with my chemistry. But, that's neither here nor there. Getting back to Oya. OMG! How I love Oya. This is heaven in a bottle and I will be getting a full bottle.

I'm looking desperately for the perfect foody scent. But not just any foody sent.

 

Specifically, bread. A sweet, rich bread, like a brioche. Like a brioche with cream on top and a savory filling. Not that I want to smell like bacon and onions, mind, but something other than your classic fruits such as currant, cherry, strawberry, etc.

 

I don't want this scent to be the smell of fruit or chocolate or sugar so much as bread, cream, vanilla. The smell of cinnamon rolls rising on the counter. Brown sugar, dough, maybe fig or dates...

 

But!!

 

I also want to capture the smell of buttercream. This is a separate desire from the above. So I'm looking for 2 different bakery scents. One rich and savory and bready, the other, purest buttercream.

 

Help?

 

(I have bottles of Chanukkiyah and Love's Philosophy on the way. Never tried, but hoping they might work. So I'm looking for suggestions outside of these two.)

 

Thanks y'all!

I'm very surpised Chimera is nowhere in this thread! Chimera is EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT!

One of the first bottles of BPAL I ever ordered and it remains a favorite of mine to this day. I get lots of warm cinnamon. Absolutely delicious. A friend of mine wore it to a Halloween party - she was dressed as a very sexy vampiress and the scent on her amazing. Sin is sexy and macabre - the perfect combination as far as I'm concerned. Oh, and it gets better with age. I've had my bottle for well over 3 years and it's more fabulous now than ever before.

Vixen, Whip, Madame Moriarty and Loviatar are all sexy as hell.

My spiciest pick would have to be Madame Moriarty. Yummers!

The Witch Queen is exactly like Tendre Poison, which was a favorite of mine, but has been discontinued for quite a few years now.

I recently received samples of Gothic I & II by Loree Rodkin and fell in love with the exotic vanilla, patchouli, incense blends. Now the bottles are awesome and the perfume oil is heavenly, but they're $140 for a 1/3 oz bottle which is insane! Just think of how many BPAL's I could buy with $140!!

I was wondering if anyone could recommend a BPAL that smelled similar to either of the Gothic oils. They really are extraordinary. Thanks so much!!

As soon as I sniffed this one from the vial I tossed it back. Too white, too floral for me. But, for some reason, maybe because it's a full moon, I felt compelled to wear this today. I took a chance dabbing this on behind my ears and on my wrists as I was leaving for work. That's it, no turning back. I defintely was going to smell like Rapture for a good few hours. I LOVE this. Oh wow, it's very feminine, very sexy, very mysterious, like the full moon herself. I can totally see this as being a favorite of Venus or Aphrodite. The longer I have it on, the more I'm loving it. It's softening to a sweet jasmine. Powdery yes, but no innocent baby powder smell here - no, no, this is finely milled French powder that comes in a beautiful package with a soft puff. Sensual. I don't get much rose, but the musk and the jasmine work very well with my chemistry. I'm definitely getting a 5ML on my next order. Beth, beautifully done. I'm totally enthralled!

Oh. My. I love Black Rose. This definitely has a Gothic vibe. This is a dark, wet rose that a vampire lies on the body of his prey after he's taken her to the dark side. Black Rose makes me feel incredibly sexy and a little mysterious. It has good throw and seems to be lasting all day on me. The amber and the musk round this gem out nicely.

Whip will always be my #1 BPAL rose scent, but Black Rose comes in at #2.

Beth is brilliant with roses !

I like to be smelled. I like leaving a trail of mystery behind me. I want my fragrance to be just as easily detected at the end of the day, is it is when I first put it on and here are the best I've encountered so far: Dragon's Musk, Haunted, Phantom Queen, Vixen, Loviatar, Whip, Sin, Lucy Westerna and Chimera.

Interesting that the notes in each differ tremendously too.

I Dragon's Musk. It's delicious, it has throw and it's very long lasting. I really love the way the musk and the dragon's blood compliment one another. It's rich, mystical, soft and sensual. My darling husband bought me a 5ml for my birthday and I'm psyched.

Sandalwood. All I get from this is Sandalwood. I have to be careful with sandalwood because it can dry down sickeningly sweet on me. Sri Lanka is lovely, but very one dimensional. I just don't think I love it enough to buy a bigger bottle.

We'll let the old man try it. Dear husband will be excited to find another imp ear waiting for him on his bureau when he wakes up.

OMG! I must have big bottle. *Runs to get credit card*

Dracul smells like bottled Yule to me. Certainly it's the balsam fir that has captured my heart. Smells like bayberry and sugar cookies on me.

I went to a dinner party last weekend and wore Dracul. The men were intrigued and the women all claimed to be buying a bottle the next day. It lasts a good long while and has a strong throw. This is one of my top 5 favorites!

UPDATE: 12/24/06 - so utterly disappointed. My 5ML bottle of this is terrible. It smells nothing at all like the imp's ear that I fell in love with. It doesn't have that delcious bayberry, fir, holiday smell. It smells like watered down mint. Up for swap it goes.

I had such high expectations for Hellfire and it failed miserably on me. It started out fierce and powdery and dried down to something resembling play-doh. Bummer.

ADDED 2/1/09:

Love it! It smells exactly as described!

I knew I would love the tobacco as I loved sniffing the pouch my dad carried around years ago when he smoked a pipe. The leather is soft, not as prominent as in Loviatar, (which I also adore) but it's certainly in the forefront. The remaining ingredients, ambergris, dark musk and incense smoke are blended perfectly. This is definitely a skin scent. As it warms up on me it gets sweeter, a little more powdery. It's secretive, very sultry. This blend shrouds me in mystery and makes me want to dance beneath the veils. I will be getting a full bottle of this one.

One cannot wear Vixen without feeling like, well a vixen!

I'm so happy to have ordered an imp ear of this one! (It's a dead ringer for Loree Rodkin's Gothic oils, which are wonderful, but ridiculously over priced ).

The orange blossom starts out a little strong on me, but after a few minutes the patchouli and ginger make their appearance. After that it just continues to get better. Sexier. Spicier. Vixenier.

Vixen doesn't soften much. It is has amazing throw and lasts for the longest time. I love this one!

I believe this may have been a frimp. Thanks guys!

This is hauntingly beautiful. I'm picky about florals, it's very love or hate. Phantom Queen, I absolutely love.

It starts off strong and sharp, but quickly mellows into a creamy, lush and very, very feminine floral. This has great throw and actually lasts quite a while on me.

I made a sabbat incense once for a Beltane ritual, and it called for apple blossom. I always wished I could bottle the scent of that incense and Beth did it for me, without even knowing it! Phantom Queen is empowering. Wear this fragrance and make a wish. I guarantee it will come true.

This was a frimp's ear (free imp's ear), thanks lab!!

Wow, this stuff really wakes you up. While extremely sharp in the vile (makes my eyes tear!) on it's refreshing, green and crisp. To me it's quite masculine and I gave it to my husband. He is digging Danse Macabre immensely. It smells really great on him.

This was a free imp. Thanks lab!!

At first, when I smelled it in the vial almond jumped out at me. A note that I absolutely detest.

I was immediately turned off and so I left the imp's ear for my husband to try. (He gets everything I don't care for and usually they smell great on him). He put some on and a few moments later I exclaimed "WHAT ARE YOU WEARING? OMG! IT'S FABULOUS." He told me Kabuki and I snatched that baby right back to try. Once passed the smell in the vile and applied to my skin a delicious, spicy, musky, licorice blend started to emerge. I was in love. Thankfully, I detected little or no almond and very little cherry once the fragrance was on me. Have you ever tried Kush? It reminds me a LOT of Kush.

My husband thought it a little too sweet on him but loved it on me!

This just proves that everything, no matter what it smells like in the vial, should be tested on the skin at least once. I just may have to buy a larget bottle of Kabuki.

Yessssssss!!

This is exactly what I hoped it would be. At first in the bottle all I smelled was coffee and I didn't know how to feel about that really. but I tried the tiniest dab on the back of my hand and there it all was....the coconutty tobacco rummy yummy deliciousness. It's drying down beautifully too. Hmmm, what's that I detect? Maybe a hint of something spearminty. OMG! Whatever it is, I'm ecstatic about it. This is love and I think I may have to get a bigger bottle of this baby!

:D

At first the leather was so sharp, that I really didn't know what to make of it. But very quickly the amber starts to melt through - sweetening the leather, refining it, smoothing it, taming it just a bit. It has great lasting power. I absolutely love the way this dries down.

Loviatar is sexy yummy delicious.

Mandarin? I don't get any citrus at all, thankfully, for I don't care for it much. That being said, I love Grandmother of Ghosts, if not just for the name! I get a soft floral, that is slightly dusty and which has a certain twang to it. Must be the pepper.

The scent works wonderfully with my chemistry and I find it to be very long lasting. I will certainly be getting me a 5ml of GoG.