spark

]I just tested Cockaigne and thought it was more like Beaver Moon 05 than Underpants. Underpants is a very unique scent, and so far I haven't come across anything similar in the GC.

 

Aah well i already orderd a bottle of Cockaigne , but beavermoon 05 is very yummy aswell.

Late 2 cents: I find Cockaigne to be quite buttery.

Anyone have thoughts on the very first 13 (Thirteen for anyone searching this thread )? I wouldn't mind comparisons with more recent LE's that might be easier to find. I believe there were some white chocolate blends within the last couple of years?

ETA to avoid double posting: I can't find my Antique Lace to do a side-by-side right now, but Lyonesse is giving me a VERY similar feel after the white sandalwood fades (BPAL's white sandalwood is very smoky/ashy on me).

D'oh! I had no idea that thread existed. Thanks for the assistance. Looks like I am off to the Swaps forum for the real Brian!

Question from my cousin: she picked up a bottle of Blue Moon 2009 a while back (on LJ, I think) that was advertised as "Brian's." Smelling it, though, she thinks it's probably Beth's. (I haven't smelled either one myself.) I believe the labels are different, aren't they? She says her label has a large smiley Moon on the left side, and a winged pig over the words "Blue Moon" on the right side. Can anyone help?

Thanks!!

I am never sure what to make of violet. It seems like something I "should" like but I'm not sure whether I actually do. And I know I have a relationship with vetiver, so Bluebeard was an interesting experiment.

Bluebeard is pretty clearly violet and a little vetiver; it's not one of those scents where you catch whiffs of something but can't figure out what it is. It's violet and vetiver! While it was wet the first time I tried it, I also picked up a dab of bitter lavendar. Trying it again -- much later; the imp is probably 2 years old at this point -- I didn't get lavendar, but the violet and vetiver were as I remember them. I never did pick up any white musk, but then I still haven't figured out what that smells like.

I can't really picture this scent on a man because of the prominence of the violet. Chemistry can do interesting things, though!

Eat Me is fearfully buttery in the bottle, but it doesn't last, thank goodness! Instead it develops into what I want to say is Entenmann's coffee cake/pastry, the kind with the deliciously artificial fruit jam on it. Sweet and fruity and yum!

OMG this is really not good. I'm one of the unlucky for whom civet is a disaster. Flame of Desire smells OK in the bottle but is horrific on my skin. It is very musky and dirty and not pleasant.

This is why I do the "dab test" for scent before using anything with intent... while the scent of many TALs is secondary to their purpose, if I had gotten this all over me in any sort of ritual, I would be really unhappy right now.

I am going thru my Samhain LE's from last year to prep for this year:

In my years of BPAL I have found that there are two categories of rose on my skin: the kind that is rich and round and sexy and awesome, and the kind that is watery and sad. By this I do not mean "aquatic." I just mean watery -- I have no better description than that. It is the olfactory eqivalent of Kool-Aid or juice concentrate to which too much water has been added, leading to that weird weak watered-down flavor.

Sadly, the rose in All Saints is one of the latter. All Saints on my skin is all resin and watery rose. The resin does not have an "incense" vibe to my nose; I think the wateriness of the rose prevents it from really developing that way.

Unusally -- at least unusual for the typical behavior of my skin -- the gardenia never shows up (normally gardenia is very heavy on my skin). Just resins and watery rose.

I try to try every imp that comes my way, but if it has a heavy floral smell, no I won't test it. I did try Othello... but I remember swapping it away lol not sure why.

 

I love musks, vanilla, incensey, and some fruity scents.

 

I know I'm not a fan of Gardenia.. way too strong. I think I like Juniper (is that a floral?)

 

ETA: But I love the smell of fresh Gardenias, Tuberose, and Jasmine!.. the oils are just too sharp and heady for me to enjoy wearing.

Well, I'll still talk to you even if you DID swap Othello. Hmph. It must have been too rosy for you, 'cause the musk really is nice in it.

Juniper is actually an evergreen plant. So that's more resiny.

I'll repeat my rec for Blood Countess, then. It actually DOES have gardenia but doesn't go too heavy. It's a very rich sexy fruity scent. And Kali... I think it would be up your alley. It's not a floral by really any definition.

Gotta run now but I will keep thinking.

Hmmm. I take it you have swapped away your floral frimps without trying them? That might have been a good starting point... imps in hand, as it were.

I don't think of Alice or Antique Lace as really being floral at all. (Alice maybe, but AL is mostly vanilla.)

Hmmm. Have you tried Othello? It is my One True Love and, while it has a gorgeous deep rich rose, it's really more sweet musk than anything. I also adore Kali, which also has some rose, but is mostly honey and wine and chocolate. Blood Countess is terrific; deep berry more than floral.

Also: What DO you like? Musk? Resin? Vanilla? Fruit? That might help with the "targeting.

ETA: filigree_shadow's post reminded me of a good point. If you are "afraid" of floral you may wish to avoid jasmine, tuberose (sorry f_s!), and gardenia. Those are all incredibly heavy on my skin, and I know others have the same problem (at least with jasmine). Orchid can also be heavy, but I adore it and don't care. Other florals tend to be somewhat lighter.

I find Kuang Shi and Katharina to be nearly indistinguishable.

Ah! OK, I'm back to this thread again. So, I need an opinion here:

As mentioned before, I am moving overseas for a few years and am taking my BPAL collection (which is about 90 bottles- aah!). I am going to use the aromatherapy travelling cases most likely (other wise bubble wrap and teflon tape), but was planning to put them in my large suitcase that goes underneath (originally it would be in my carryon, but now that is not possible). Now I am sort of paranoid that they will open my underneath luggage and tamper with my oils, or throw them out etc. Buut, I really don't want to ship them, since there is the huge possibility of it getting lost or whatnot, and I don't have a permanent address in France yet anyhow.

 

So is it safe to bring oils in your cargo suitcase? especially in such large quantities?

Well, TECHNICALLY, and strictly from a "value" standpoint, you are probably better off having someone ship them to you, insured, once you have arrived in France. I mean, that's $1500 (at minimum!) worth of BPAL. If they DO lose your suitcase -- much less if they throw it out -- there's no way you will get that much $$ back from the airlines. Whereas if you FedEx them or something, at least you could insure them for the full value.

Absolutely chocolate, but I don't quite get milk chocolate from it: there a bit of a dry/powdery feel to my nose, more like Quik than a chocolate bar. It's a fairly unobtrusive scent, but a little too simple for me. I prefer richer, darker chocolate.

Another scent that, due to my "blind spot" for amber, seems rather simple... just straight apple in the vial and on the skin. I don't get much herby-ness either. The apple is pretty, but too plain for my taste.

I'm trying Viola from quite an old imp, and perhaps that is the problem. I am a rose junkie, and this has rose... but it's sort of a pale watery rose. Viola requires quite a heavy hand for me to smell much of anything, and when I do it only reminds me of a paler version of Zombi -- rose and moss. Not worth keeping.

Another one that I've had a hard time getting a handle on. On the first test, it was darkly fruity: berry, I suppose, and not the plum of Blood Countess. There is perhaps a hint of smoke. It's rather pretty, and lasts forever, but I love Blood Countess and I don;'t think Lady Mac is a replacement.

On the second test, Lady Mac was all thick candy sweetness. I retried it looking for the wine notes, as I really want a rich red wine scent, but this isn't it. It isn't BAD, but not what I was hoping for.

Wet: Vetiver. And gardenia or jasmine, both of which have a tendency to become 500-Pound Floral on my skin.

As it dries on me, the vetiver fades into the background fairly quickly: always present, but more as a hint of darkness than HI I'M VETIVER. At this stage I probably wouldn't be able to ID it as vetiver if not for the initial wet scent.

Sadly, as it dries, the gardenia/jasmine does not let go. They're so heavy on my skin that the rose, cinnamon, and leather never make their appearance. Just heavy flowers.

So glorious in the imp! Sangria perhaps -- a rich round fruitness with something sparkling and lovely coming through. And it lasts on my skin that way for about 15 minutes... beautiful golden fruit.

And then it fades to little more than a generic sweetness. Miraculously, the jasmine never arrives, but neither does much else. My skin has a tendency to swallow scent nuances, and Versailles is another victim.

Once again either my skin or my nose fails me. La Belle is all sweet pear on my wrist -- sparkling and lovely but oh so simple. It also fades quite rapidly.

I thought about doing the slather test, but I already have a plumeria & pear scent (Thalia: Good Cheer) that I love. If something in La Belle doesn't go quite right for you, try Thalia! (Not Thaleia... )

The good news: Kuang Shi does NOT go bitterly smoky on my skin, which is what usually happens with white sandalwood.

The bad news: Kuang Shi has a weird neroli scent to my nose. I can't stand neroli. Interestingly, Kuang Shi actually smells exactly like Katharina -- perhaps the "neroli" I am smelling in both of them is actually the combination of white musk and fruit. (Katharina is "white musk with a trickle of bright, sharp apricot and orange blossom.")

So if you like Katharina -- or come really close to liking it but something goes wrong -- try Kuang Shi.

I've tried Black Dahlia several times because I love orchid scents, but jasmine does not go well for me, and I can't seem to get a handle on this one.

On the first test: I get mostly jasmine, I think, but it's nice.

On the second test: Wet, it's a pretty sweet floral, but maybe a bit dark underneath. I can pick up some orchid.

On the third test: Wet, it's a heavy floral, like I expect jasmine to be on me. It's OK but not great. It dries to a spicy powdery sweetness. I don't get any orchid this time.

I never really get any magnolia or rose from this one, and my nose almost never picks up Beth's amber. I think I have to break down and accept that Black Dahlia is, on my skin, the usual Jasmine Explosion.

Wet: Sweet greenery. It's quite pretty. As it dries it gets more bitter on the skin; at that point it's an amazingly genuine dandelion scent. The waft of the scent is still sweet, though -- the bitterness stays close to the skin.

After a couple hours the bitterness fades too, and I'm left with a nice neutral green dandelion scent. There may be a touch of hops at this point, but mostly I feel like I've been rolling in dandelions all day. Definitely unique!

Sigh. Yet another rum scent that turns to water on me... I was so hoping for the F54 feeling! Instead Santo Domingo hits my skin and morphs into a watery spice, just as Baron Samedi and Port-Au-Prince do. My nose is unable to pick up flowers, tobacco, or anything else interesting. Next!

Does anybody have any reccomendations for a scent that they find is similiar to Red Moon?

 

Any help would be very apprceciated

 

Court

I personally think Wildfire is -- it's the child of Red Moon and Othello. But it may not be any easier to find!

I think the new "default" for spicy foody yumminess is BENGAL!

Yum.

Does anyone know if there's a catalog scent that mimics Harvest Moon? I got an imp last year, was dying to order a bottle this year and then up and missed it.

Block Buster and Harvest Moon '05 remind me of each other. But keep in mind that Harvest Moon '04 and '05 have significant differences.