VetchVesper

So, it seems like we have similar tastes. I wonder if you've tried Velvet, Tezcatlipoca, Blood Kiss, Bard and Scheherazade. Those would be GC's I'd recommend. You might try Shub-Niggurath as well, since you like spice, if you don't mind something that smells a little foody. The Candy Butcher is a dark chocolate and honey smell in Carnival Diabolique. Red Lantern is also a classic Luper that would probably be up your ally. As might Smut and Bright Red Dildo. You might enjoy Psychodynamic Discharge as well, but it is not for the feint of heart. Cognac-Stained Sheet Ghost is much sweeter than I would have guessed from the notes and has been compared to Zorya P.. The Air and Ether from the Yules isn't sugary, but it's a beautiful, smooth amber and lavender. And have you tried Lyonesse? I's got a really nice mix of vanilla, ambergris, and grey amber. It's one of the few GC aquatics I really love. Have you read reviews of the Sugar Cookie Yules? Since you like vanilla and sugar, there might be some tasties in there for you. Hmmm... what stands out to me in Arcana is the frankincense. I wonder if you might like Anthony. It leans a little masculine to my nose, but it's very nice, and I enjoy wearing some of the more "masculine" fragrances. Titus Andronicus might be another you'd enjoy (Since you wanted ancient world. You'll have to provide your own lesbian though. 😜 ) The Apothecary is a very lovely, mossy herbal. Have you tried Zombie? Not one of my favorites, but it's a popular earth and roses scent. Bruised Violet Compound is sort of an earthy, enchanted forest smell for me, and the red currants give it a berry scent which I also get from Druid. Lyonesse is one of the few GC scents with grey amber in it, and it's noticeable in the fragrance, so you might keep an eye out for that. The Grey Columns features the note and is lovely. You might also enjoy Cognac-Stained Sheet Ghost. I wonder if you'd like Odic Force if you enjoy lemon verbena. It's got a fresh, citrus quality, but the white musk and amber make it sort of fuzzy. Crystal Gazers also seems to share some notes with your preferred scents, but I have not smelled it. You might also like Auriga - either of them, though you'd have to keep an eye out on the sales and swaps forums.

I received a frottle of this from the lab, so I'm assuming is aged under the best conditions. It's unusual and interesting— the kind of fragrance you can tell would really appeal to certain people, even if that's not me. I get lots of opoponax and myrrh (2 resins I'm ambivalent on), followed by a dark fig. The fig is subtle and becomes obvious only when I sniff my skin directly. (Fig is a fruit I'm ambivalent on.) I never would have guessed green tea was in this (I'm used to teas being lighter/brighter scents), but upon contemplation, I might be able to see where it's in here. The carnation just adds some spiciness and blends with the fig, not really noticeable unto itself. The sum of the parts is a smokey, resinous fragrance with a dark, fruity undertone that reminds me a bit a stewed plums. I think you probably have to appreciate the resins to love this one, because that's what's on display here, at least with my chemistry. Amusingly, I was wearing this when I wash my hands with some fruity smelling Christmas soap, and that combination was lovely. "Pure Wonder," for any Bath & Body Works fans.

Anyone else getting a Lucille Sharpe vibe from this? Not the same, but for me, it scratches the same itch. I think it's the gothy roses, perfumey floral quality, mixing with the resins. Lucille Sharpe if she lived in the 80's and was really into The Cure. More in your face and heavier on the incense---and on the eyeliner. I dig it. Nicely blended. A little scratchy, from the resins, and powdery from the violet and black musk. I really like the way the champaca is mixing with the roses. It's sort of plush velvet and soapy hippy (but in the best way?). Very interesting and not something I've smelled before. Can't wait to see how my bottle settles in.

Fuzzy, soft evergreen, mixing with bright, fruity rose and fig. The ginger is subtle, but adds an earthy huskiness to the red patchouli. The red patch and ginger become more prominent as the evergreen and the pop of fig and rose die back. This becomes dry, heat-blasted almost, the calms back down to a husky red patch fragrance with a touch of soft rose and evergreen. This is very well blended, but overall, it's more patch-centric vs. a rose, cypress, or fig fragrance. ETA - My imp is probably around 5 years old oh, so it makes sense the evergreen would have softened and the patchouli gotten richer.

This smells like a clean house. For all those people who complain about citrus smelling like cleaning supplies, well, here I think that's the point. This isn't something I would wear, but it's bright and fresh, and would work wonderfully added to an oil burner, or (for those of you crafty at adding oils to other products), in cleaning supplies or laundry. I don't know about its ritual uses. But I've been trying to get in the house cleaning mood so I'm wearing it today, with middling results. Very upscale cleaning supply smell.

Woah! That is some black pepper! The note is strong, and it's doing a good job of balancing the sharp woodiness of the vetiver. After 15 minutes or so, the pepper is mostly gone, leaving a warm, slightly acrid, vetiver. I actually liked it with the pepper more, but if vetiver doesn't go bitter on you, you'll probably like this.

Very lovely. An equal balance of moss and lavender, with the two notes shifting back and forth on the scales as the hours go by. This seems like a wonderful sleep blend, and I could see this serving as a nice base for mixing with other fragrances. I would say, if you enjoy herbaceous lavender, this is well worth having. I'm usually ambivalent towards lavender, but this is tempting. It's just so simple and true to the notes. ETA - Yes, this is fougere in a bottle, ready to be added to all your other favorite fumes.

Such a bright happy fragrance! This is a mood lifter for sure. I get a very realistic lemon peel, sweetened by a little bit of floral orange blossom. This doesn't strike me as a candy lemon. It's more herbaceous. This phase doesn't last for more than a few minutes, but it makes a lovely splash. The fragrance then softens and blends and I get more of the orange blossom fuzzed with a hint of lemon. This isn't the kind of thing I wear often, but it's nice to have an imps-worth. No cleaning-supply lemon to worry about.

At first, I get a good, thick, rich honey -- like something you'd drink in tea. There's a hint of something acrid and metallic in the background -- two, coppery pennies. It's an interesting mix, to be sure, but I'm not sure it's something I'd wear. Actually, it's reminding me of Non-Compliant, but it doesn't come together as well for me. The notes remain dissonant. The honey starts to become a little powdery, kind of like the one in Door, which also didn't work well on me. But if you like herbal honey fragrances, this might be up your alley as something a little darker than most.

Possibly Miss Forcible. It's got that classic, high-end, musk vibe, but lacks the mossiness. The only impable general catalog scent I can think of would maybe be Greed. It's got the mossy chypre thing, but it's more hippie than high-end, and leans more gender neutral vs. feminine.

Wow. Okay, I assumed this was a cinnamon blend, a very smooth, sweet, Ceylon cinnamon blend. It reminds me a little bit of Hata, but it's milder, or Sarah, Mother Bear from the Pretty Deadly's. The leather is very mild on me, and I'm guessing it's the bourbon that adds a little hint of sweetness. But I would have never guessed all of the notes listed. It's very nice though: a cuddly, but sexy, spice blend

@ComicCreep I second roseus's recs. Also, Nuclear Winter is a nice spearmint, Fuck This Heat is cool and herbal, and you might enjoy the Halloween hair gloss from last year - Stitched Together. I'd also recommend Pumpkin Spice Booze. 😁

Weirdly fruity? I think it's the interplay of sweet honey with the other notes. Maybe the red musk? It's very different from what I expected, but it reminds me a bit of Fire For Thy Stepsisters. I like this better though. It's got more punch and bite and really does smell fiery somehow. There's a crackly, smoky, scratchy quality going on. Red musk is lurking but never steals center stage. The resins get darker and pop more after the initial burst of bright sweetness, like fire sparked to life, then dwindling to smoldering coals. There still plenty of heat though. I don't need a bottle of this, but it would be nice to have a decant. It's moody and unusual and I think it would be a great character scent for cos play or a fiery personality. Leans feminine to my nose, because of the sweetness. I kinda want to try it mixed with War.

Juicy, happy, bright fruity floral. It's reminiscent of kitsune-tsuki but leans more fruity. It's got a similar vibe to orchids. Mostly, I smell sweet plum, cherry blossom, and sweet citrus. There's a dash of pine in the back just giving the whole thing a bit of a scratchiness. I don't wear this one all that often, but it's still an enjoyable part of my collection.

Yay! Glad to be of help! Also, @Estamets, I have one more recs for you. It mind be hard to find a bottle (because it's so good) but Unicorn Junk is well worth a sniff if you aren't adverse to lilac. (Coconut foam, Siamese benzoin, Himalayan cedar, translucent petals, lilac milk, and mallow) Think Obatala with gorgeous lilac and marshmallowy sweetness, tempered slightly by the cedar. 🤤

So, without looking at the notes, I would have sworn this was a lavender and green musk scent. Apparently, the herbal quality of the violet leaf is tricking my nose. There's a warmth grounding the fragrance that must be the ho wood. I'm guessing the carrot seed adds some wistful sweetness, but for me, it's blending in with the green musk. Green musk amps on me - a lot. It's not quiiiite taking over completely, but pretty close to it. This is not for me, but the initial herbal/floral quality over the musky warmth was pretty. I'd be curious to get the impressions of lavender lovers to see if I'm just crazy.

This is a VERY aged imp, so I'm not sure if it's held up. There's only enough perfume left for a test or two, and chemical changes happen more quickly with a smaller amounts of liquid. What I'm mostly getting at first is sort of non-descript, powdery dark floral. I do start to get a bit of dark plum, and there's definitely some murkiness from the resins, which become much more apparent as this warms up, but alas, I'm not getting any sort of complexity from this scent. Honestly, it just kinda smells like the resins have kept going, but the top notes of escaped. Perhaps it's just my chemistry. Dark, dark resins, with a hint of plum, and the memory of powdery floral.

I'm going to agree with torikitty that there's some dirty jasmine going on, but on me, it's blending with the other notes and ends up being pretty interesting. The pine sap adds sort of a gritty, forest vibe to everything. I don't really smell vetiver, but I'm guessing it's darkening things. I don't get anything fruity. Maybe my skin eats those notes, or maybe they've aged out from my decant. Overall, I like Conical Beast. It's sort of a earthy, forest-floral with a bit of funk. Brooding but playful.

These aren't notes I'm super familiar with, so always fun to try something new. My first impression is weird green tea, with sort of a warm, resinous vanilla slithering through it. Definitely the Snake Oil making it's presence known. It's weirdly discordant, but interesting. I don't get the bright, wet greenness I associate with dandelion sap, but there is greenness. It's becoming more resinous as it warms up, more of a sweeter Snake Oil with and herbal edge. It's quieter than SO though, lighter, and more aimed at summer. It seems like a sister to Green Tree Boa, but is different enough to make having both worth it. Yup. Once this has settled in, the weirdness becomes a good thing. The sweetness also tones down. This is an herbal with a bit of sexy slink, a cup of green tea swirled with a spoonful of warm resins. Very nice.

Whacky. I was really thinking this had cedar in it, and the cedar was really behaving itself for once on my skin. I guess that's cause it's actually patchouli. 😐 I'm getting fruitiness up front, mostly the mango, with a backing of woody patch that becomes the most prominent note as Tweedledum dries down. The mango isn't super sweet or juicy to my nose. Maybe that's b/c it's an older imp, or maybe it's because it's "green" mango, but this give me more of a sun dried mango sort of smell. I'm guessing the fig is deepening to overall frutiness. By the time everything has settled in, I get an earthy, spicy, cedar smell, with just a hint of warm mango adding complexity. I never get any green tea vibes at all. This seems like it could actually work on a guy really well, if he has any interest in fruity smells (Again, this imp is well aged.) or for someone looking for a different sort of mango from the typical fruit punch sort of thing. For me, I think it's not quite patchouli enough, or else not quite in your face, fruity enough to be a win. It's pleasant though. I'd love to see this blend of notes without the patchouli - as a more buoyant, juicy sort of summer scent.

So, a lovely forumite frimped me a sniffy of this a while back, and whenever I give it a sniff, then look at the notes - it blows my mind. Up front, this is the figgiest figging McFigster of a scent ever. I just can't fig--ure it out. I get NONE of the other notes until after about 20 mins of wear. As heavy as those other notes are, I'm really surprised, when they do finally show up, they are barely peaky out from behind the bossy fig. Tiny bit of pitch and a titch of frankincense. That's it. The rest is all fig. I wish the resins played more of a role on me. I agree this is the same fig as in Lola Lee Loo, and it is reminiscent of Gomorrah, though that fig seemed a little jammier. The fruit is too bright and tart on me to think of this as a dark scent. I'm thinking of figgy fruit roll-ups. I'm thinking I amp the hell out of fig. Weird.

Salty! VERY salty. A bit of wood, a bit of floral, and maybe ... some vanilla going on?? Woah! Found some green musk in the dry down. Hmmm.. okay. Retesting and looking at the notes. STILL salty! I think I'm smelling opoponax, which I have mixed feelings about. It always smells sort of treacly thick and sickly sweet to my nose. Maybe that's what is reading as vanilla-ish as it mixes with the benzoin. I still can't identify the violet, though I do think I smell the sort of astringent, clean-floral davana going on, and the ambergris is giving me Lyonesse vibes. I don't sniff much squid ink, so I'll have to leave that one to the judgement of other reviewers. I might like kelp? I DO like salt, and apparently, these kinds of aquatics work with my chemistry. There's a threat of soap in the beginning, but then things decide to behave themselves. I like this. I wouldn't purchase a bottle, but it was super fun to try it out, and I'd use an imp. A salty, dark, semi-aquatic, with resins and green musk. Definitely unique.

Lol. I know how you feel. Hard to only pick 5. And especially since one of your extras is cat related - you are forgiven. 😸 The scents that jumped to my mind are: GC - Goblin, Black Pearl, Eden, Black Phoenix (a lot of people seem to smell cherry, but I get almond, myrrh and roses), Jolly Roger, Mary Read, The Sea Foams Milk (if you're interested in aquatics), and How Doth the Little Crocodile (cuddly, slightly foody cedar) Unimpable GC - The Organ Grinder, Kamau Kogo, and Death Adder (if you can handle vetiver) LE (if you feel like hunting them down) - Materialization (like a fancier Obatala to my nose. The honeysuckle's not super prominent.) and Ghost Faced Bat (snuggly, creamy and sweet) You might also try to get a sniff of "Leave Her, Johnny" from the Sailor Shanty Anniversaries. I haven't smelled it, but seems like a lot of notes you fancy. Possibly Luperci? and Cheerful Oxen. I'm not real familiar with Queen, so I didn't give any recs to scratch that itch. @Smoochadore The only thing that popped into my head was The Spotted Cat - White ginger, green mandarin, ti leaf, cedarwood, chocolate mint, bergamot, and sweet vetiver. Not super masculine, but not really feminine either. Cuddly, a little mossy, a little citrussy, and a bit like How Doth the Little Crocodile.

@Llanval Pink champagne jello? Wow. That is NOT what it did on me. 😄 That's one of the things that's cool about fragrances though, they actually smell different on different people, AND our noses pick up the various chemicals differently. If you spot someone in the reviews who seems to smell things the same way you do, keep an eye out for them. It can be super helpful if you are buying bottles blind. Some decant circles will ship internationally, some won't. Usually, they'll say so up front. If they don't specify, you can always ask. 😊 Shipping to Canada is less trouble than over seas, so you probably won't have too hard a time finding a circle. I do international packages. Tennis Match is on my wishlist. Lol. I missed that one too. Never got a sniff. You might also like Smug Yale, although it's not by any means a loud fragrance. Very nice though.