recklesslysober

This one is amazing.. we got mostly a gorgeous rich sandalwood, sweetened with white chocolate and just a little bit dusty/powdery. Slightly more sophisticated with the orris, but I didn't find it very floral. It reminds me a lot of The First Love Fades Too - similar feel but with white chocolate instead of lavender.

Great idea for a thread!

I picked my top 15 of the moment.. here are the results:

vanilla 3

sandalwood 3

honey 3

amber 3

spices 3

cocoa 2

bourbon vanilla 2

myrrh 2

red musk 2

currant 2

tea (green + black) 2

strawberry 2

woods 2

wind 2

A lot of these are no surprise, except honey and tea.. Pure Applesauce skewed my results there I think..

I was also surprised to find some of my often avoided notes, including rose (although it's a "rose-infused amber"), tobacco (the "tobacco tar" in Pure Applesauce), cinnamon, patchouli (from Second Spring), and woods. Sometimes a blend will just surprise you.. which is not something that I need to hear when ordering blind bottles..

I was so hoping this would be the coffee scent of my dreams but on my skin it acted just like Miskatonic University and amped the sickeningly sweet caramel.. From experience with aged Miskatonic University, it will probably get worse.

THIS is the Weenie I've been looking for. Sweet, warm, rich, earthy. I was concerned about the patchouli and cypress but they're so soft and well blended.. this is a favorite for sure.

Second Dana O'Shee, Velvet, Bordello, and Hollywood Babylon. For past LEs, I can definitely second Strawberry Sufganiyot and Sugar Skull. For current ones for sure check out the Liliths.

Cockaigne (milk and honey, sweet cakes and wine) and Miskatonic University (the scent of Irish coffee, dusty tomes and polished oakwood halls - this smelled like a super syrupy caramel latte on me) were both sickeningly sweet on me but they might be great for you since I tend to amp sweet things a bit.

I big on masculine scents, though typically shy away from overtly cologne-style blends—instead, I like the ones that are almost environmental, as though I've got smells lingering from whatever rugged activity I've been engaged in.

 

I might be listing a few that have already been recommended, but here's a bunch that I've enjoyed muchly:

 

GC

 

Kroenen Shining black leather, gleaming metal, labdanum, and myrrh.

Captain Cully A cocky light musk with leather, tonka, a dusting of dry woods, and a splash of porter.

King Haggard Dry cedar, bitter balsam, and ashes.

skekUng the Garthim-Master Vetiver, smoke, steel, and dragon's blood resin.

Agnes Nutter Gunpowder, charred wood, smoke, and rusty nails.

Hastur Smoky-sour labdanum, black patchouli, wet tobacco, and brimstone.

Marquis de Carabas A splash of bay rum, leather, dusty black wool, massoia bark, and opium residue.

Mr. Vandemar Opoponax, costus, black pepper, black sandalwood, and polished metal.

Orc Field grey courgette musk, roughly cured leather, and vetiver.

Fighter Leather, musk, blood, and steel.

Agnes Nutter Gunpowder, charred wood, smoke, and rusty nails.

 

LE

 

The Grand Inquisitor's Heretic's Fork Coppery dried blood, metal, vetiver, and bonfire smoke.

Hans Trapp Tattered leather, dry straw, matted hair, sharpened sticks, and a bundle of switches.

The Hell-Gate of Ireland 2013 Smoldering brimstone, bitter labdanum, clove, black musk, and copper-colored feathers.

Tattie Bogle 2014 Hay, gunpowder, patchouli, a sliver of bark, autumn herbs, and sun-baked wood.

Leopold Freiherr Von Tsemekwes, The Poet Rapscallion Black leather and sleek black musk with vetiver, blue chamomile, saffron-infused labdanum, caco-dusted patchouli, tobacco absolute, and oakmoss.

Sacrifice Sweetgrass and tumbleweeds, cedar and white sage, dusty, wet leather, woodsmoke, and blood.

Erik Resin-coated wood, kerosene, oil, leather, musty velvet, and dust from the Grand Drape.

The Corrupt Chancellor Smoky vetiver cologne with black leather, black pepper, smoky coffee bean, Italian bergamot, and Mysore sandalwood.

Geek Hot leather, opoponax, cedar, pine needle, mosses, dry grass, patchouli and cinnamon bark.

Cuchulain’s Fight with the Sea Salt-crusted clove stem, flayed kelp, juniper, and white patchouli.

La Mano Del Destino Powerful Sumatran patchouli and enigmatic Brazilian copaiba with pao d’arco, cacao absolute, bourbon vanilla, Ceylon cinnamon, and tobacco.

Hessian of the Hollow Grave moss and bone-white sandalwood, with vetiver, gunpowder, artillery shrapnel, and blood.

Agnes Nutter was so good you listed it twice? I just put an imp of that aside for my man to try so.. good to know.

I love this one.. I have so many chocolate scents but this is definitely unique.

Creamy bittersweet chocolate with a light, dusty, earthy undertone.

I wasn't a fan of the original but this one is lovely! I get a medicinal quality at first but fortunately that goes away quickly. You can definitely smell the juicy red fruit of pomegranate, similar to The Fruit of Paradise but much more complex, grounded, and a little darker. I'm really glad I gave the new version a shot.

@SimplySyra That's awesome! It's always nice when you can multi-purpose. Hope you find some great ones in your stash and some new loves as well (for him, but also you of course)! I got my SO hooked by giving him imps to test out every once in a while. He wasn't into it until I gave him my decant of October - then his eyes just went wide because he was shocked that a scent could be so multi-dimensional.. Now he loves testing and occasionally will tell me to add a bottle of something to "our" wishlist. He's got about 10 bottles now.. I never thought he'd like that many. I love it so much. It's nice to have that shared interest, and we both smell delicious!

@elbow, I can't comment on any of those except Lust because I haven't tried them.. but that one is awesome too! I'll have to check out some of those as well. Also your recommendation about a testing party is so very much on point!!

Bumping for suggestions. My boyfriend was here last week and became very interested in many of my BPAL scents. He particularly liked Smut and Snake Oil 09. Today he texted me asking me what scents he should try and I'm stumped because when I asked him what he wanted to smell like he told me he didn't know.

 

It seems he has a thing for musk, though, judging by Smut and Snake Oil which I think share a similar if not one of the same musks. I was wearing the 09 vintage SO, though, which goes very sweet and rich vanilla on me so rich spicy vanillas may be a thing as well.

 

The only thing we really were able to establish was probably nothing overtly food because he'll get hungry. But vanilla is okay.

 

I put this in the dude thread as he's a dude but based on his reaction to Smut and SO I'm guessing he doesn't mind smelling a bit feminine and sultry either. Does anyone have any suggestions? He's planning on grabbing a few imps and SO will be one of them. I did warn him the new SO would smell different than mine but hopefully he doesn't mind.

 

If it helps, he also was totally into my Lush stuff so while I don't think he wants to straight up smell like flowers he's definitely open to a lot of sweet things haha.

 

ETA: Have already recommended Dorian and Bard to him.

Yay!!! I was so excited when I finally pulled my SO over to the dark side.. hope I can help you do the same!

Satyr is one of my absolute favorites on him - don't be scared by the description.. I wouldn't say that it's "ferociously" masculine, although it is very intoxicating and passionate. No notes listed but one I have that smells similar but slightly more feminine (to me) is Scherezade (spices and red musk). A few of my male friends really like to wear Morocco which is also a spicy musk but lighter than the others (it's one I wear often myself and enabled them all into - muahahaha!). RPG Paladin has musk and bourbon vanilla and smells awesome - my SO loves this one! Half-Elf and Good are lighter, more neutral RPG scents with vanilla. Lyonesse is a nice vanilla musk, but it does have a light floral aspect - so that might be a long shot.

For other scents that aren't so heavy on the spices/musk/vanilla but still really great, I highly recommend both of the Sherlock scents (hope we get more of those soon): John Watson and Sherlock Holmes - John Watson is one of my SO's all-time favorites. They're kind of clean but yet soft, slightly sweet, and rugged colognes. Also some more of the RPG - Rogue and Fighter are more on the masculine side with leather and steel notes. Honorable mentions for ones my male friends like but SO didn't: The Antikythera Mechanism (woodsy vanilla and tobacco) and Dee (leather, incense, parchment, woods).

In the bottle I just get cherry, but on the skin it quickly dries away to almond and a soft incense comes out beautifully.. The description of warm almond spice cookies is the most accurate for me. I just got it out of the mail a couple of days ago so I'm hoping as it ages the incense will come out a bit more and the throw will be a little better, but I'm really glad I picked this one up!

Second Eat Me. Love that one!

I haven't tried a ton from the General Collection that would fit, but maybe these:

If she likes chocolate, maybe Bliss (milk chocolate), Vice (chocolate, black cherry, orange blossom), or Velvet (cocoa, sandalwood, vanilla, myrrh) - the sandalwood is blended well in this one and doesn't make it seem overly woody, at least to me.

Perhaps Dana O'Shee (milk, sweet grains, and honey)?

I was just slightly too late getting into BPAL to discover Switch Witch in time for last year's round.. really hoping to be able to do it this year!

I really like sandalwood, spices, amber, and chocolate for the Fall. Wearing Velvet today for the first time in months (ran out of my imp last Winter and finally got a bottle) and it's as wonderful as I remember. Looking forward to wearing more of The Little Wooden Doll, Morocco, El Dia de los Reyes (and my other 7 chocolate scents ) Scherezade, Snake Oil, etc. Pile of Fallen Leaves SN (of course) when it gets a little colder. I love book scents for the Fall too - I'm a librarian at a university so they're perfect work-appropriate scents - I just got bottles of The Book and Quintessence of Dust and I'm really enjoying both them. I'm hoping the Lurid Library comes back this year - if not I might try to find one on the forum.

I wanted to like Samhain so bad but it smelled awful on me.

All of these sound AMAZING. And yes I've seen the OLLA collection and I want it all!

 

The little wooden doll, Lyonesse and the raven sound like total wins for me <3

 

The Little Wooden Doll and Lyonesse are two of my absolute favorites.. Raven I liked but it was just a bit too ominous for me. Enjoy!

Hi everyone! I'm super new to BPAL and am currently making up my first order with scents that I think I will like based on their descriptions and notes, but it's always fun to hear from others what they think too!

Vasilissa - Creamy skin musk and blushing pink musk with soft sandalwood, white amber, dutiful myrrh, and star jasmine.

The Last Unicorn - Frosty lilac petals, iris pallida root, orris, violet leaf, white chocolate, coconut, wild lettuce, white sandalwood, and oakmoss.

Rogue - Soft, well-worn black leather, hemp, and rosin.

Elf - Pale golden musk, honeycomb, amber, parma violet, hawthorne bark, aspen leaf, forest lily, life everlasting, white moss, and a hint of wild berry.

Mouse's Long and Sad Tale - Vanilla, two ambers, sweet pea and white sandalwood.

Schrodinger's Cat - A paradoxical scent experiment! – tangerine, sugared lime, pink grapefruit, oakmoss, lavender, zdravetz, and chocolate peppermint. No cats were mistreated during the formulation of this paradox, or in the process of creating this perfume.

Check out the rest of the Mad Tea Party section and the The Last Unicorn, Labyrinth, and RPG collections too, if you haven't already.

I suppose I'll give this a go.

The Little Wooden Doll - Gently carved wood warm with a maternal love that reaches beyond death: rose-infused amber and soft golden sandalwood.

Leanan Sidhe - The name translates to “fairy, love of my soul”. A vampiric spirit and a dark muse, the love of the Leanan Sidhe is both a gift and a curse. These eerily beautiful Irish spirits drain the sanity and lifeforce of the men they inspire to artistic greatness. Her kiss infuses a man with depth of vision and feeling, otherworldly passion, and a sudden and ineffable understanding of the unending sadness that plagues mankind. Her perfume is a crush of Irish herbs and flowers, Gaelic mists, and nighttime dew.

The Raven - Sleek, dark, and ominous. Violet and neroli mingled with iris, white sandalwood and dark musk.

Nyx - Named in honor of the primeval Greek Goddess of Night. A scent reflecting inky black skies and eternal desolation. Night-blooming jasmine, warmed by myrrh, lifted by the promise of rose.

Lyonesse - Golden vanilla and gilded musk, stargazer lily, white sandalwood, grey amber, elemi, orris root, ambergris and sea moss.

Les Fleurs du Mal - The scents of the blossoms of darkness, condensed into one perfume. Features a rose base, softened with lilac and wisteria.

Also the OLLA and Labrinth collections, if you haven't seen them already.

 

Wow definitely some changes in the past few months.. and it was almost impossible to just choose 5.

 

 

1. Snow White

2. El Dia de los Reyes

3. Lyonesse

4. The Fruit of Paradise

5. Velvet

Snow White: Go to Sleep Darlings, Paladin, Dana O'Shee, Okayaki, Braving the Ice

El Dia de los Reyes: Miskatonic U, Destructive Vagina of the Fox Spirit, Bengal, Mayan Chocolate with Annatto Seed, Anaheim Pepper, Cinnamon and Vanilla Bean

Lyonesse: Mouse's Long and Sad Tale, Tamora, Dorian, Y'ha-Nthlei

The Fruit of Paradise: LA MORT: Mon ironie dépasse toutes les autres!, Chanukkiyah, Ezekiel's Phoenix, Persephone, Seeds of the Pomegranate, Leaves of the Poppy

Velvet: Atlas, Intrigue, How Doth the Little Crocodile, Cthulhu in Love, Black Pearl

Thank you so much! I've tried a bunch of these but there are some I haven't heard of.

Current Top 5:

 

1. Eat Me

2. Dana O'Shee

3. Snake Oil

4. Black Pearl

5. Coyote

 

Only tried about 20, so it will be interesting to see how this changes over time.

Wow definitely some changes in the past few months.. and it was almost impossible to just choose 5.

1. Snow White

2. El Dia de los Reyes

3. Lyonesse

4. The Fruit of Paradise

5. Velvet

I tried on Nocturne last night and it gave me a rash.. there's a red blotch over everywhere I applied it. Any ideas on irritants in this one? I haven't had a reaction to anything else and I've tried a variety.

I was afraid of the woods in Spirit Board, but they did not come to the forefront in this blend for me.

Woods tend to amp to single note level on me, so I usually pass on them unless the rest of the blend really interests me. Lilac and black tea haven't really been great on me either so I skipped getting a decant of that in favor of other Yules I expected I would like. Glad it works for you though.

 

I haven't tried many rose blends yet, but I'd like to. The only one I really loved so far was the crushed petal note in Wanda. Are there others with a similar feel? Other ones I've tried, like Persephone and Rose Red, were just terrible on me. I like the smell of rose water too, and the actual smell of fresh roses. Just something about the blends I've tried have been too sharp.

 

Rose Red perfume is very green on me. Persephone is very fruity. I don't get a lot of lush rose petals from those either.

 

I've been testing out Harlot lately and I lurve it I actually added a full on bottle in the order I just placed with the lab. Don't let the cinnamon scare you. It's very subtle on me. It's GC too, so easy to get your hands on a imp from the lab.

 

If you like dirt and moss notes, Zombi is another favorite of mine. It's not a straight up rose though. I get about an even blend of roses, dirt, and moss.

 

Peacock Queen is my other go to purely rose scent. It's very floral and lush. That's LE though so possibly a bit harder to track down. It comes back frequently during Yules though so I'd keep an eye out for it later this year or even on BPAL's etsy possibly.

 

Thanks! I'll have to check out Harlot! I'm not a huge fan of strong cinnamon scents but it wasn't too noticeable on me in El Dia de los Reyes. And that's great that it's a GC.

I'm not a fan of dirt/moss, but I'd probably try Zombi if I came across it.

Peacock Queen is definitely on the list to try out next time it comes around.

Thanks for your suggestions!

Rose Red is blergh on me, but my best bpal pal loves it. Some people really amp the green thing in it, I am one of them.

I still vote Seance for the sweetest most interesting rose note.

I do love Peacock Queen though also.

Seance sounds amazing! I'll have to check that one out too.

I would love to do a swap like that!

Claircognizance didn't really work for me for some reason, and I didn't get a decant of Spirit Board because of the woods and white florals. Thanks for the ideas though!

I haven't tried many rose blends yet, but I'd like to. The only one I really loved so far was the crushed petal note in Wanda. Are there others with a similar feel? Other ones I've tried, like Persephone and Rose Red, were just terrible on me. I like the smell of rose water too, and the actual smell of fresh roses. Just something about the blends I've tried have been too sharp.

I'm the same way! The simple ones always work best on me.

For GCs, I second the recommendations for Bliss, Dana O'Shee, Eat Me, Obatala, Miskatonic University, Velvet, Vice, and Black Lily. Poisoned Apple and Squirting Cucumber are two of my other favorites.

For LEs, The Fruit of Paradise is the one I get the most compliments on and it's just pomegranate. I also love Gelt, El Dia De Los Reyes, Lick It with Consent, and Strawberry Sufganiyot.

Thanks! I'll have to check those out. I actually just gave Tezcatlipoca to him to try the other day, I'll have to see what he thinks of it. Interesting about Black Forest, I was kind of afraid to try it because I thought it might be too strong on me, but maybe not! The description of Troll sounds intense.