KatyC

Absolutely gorgeous. Sweet resins mixed with expensive wood, I totally agree that this 'glows' and it manages to be cozy and sexy at the same time. Decent wear length. I should have bought a back-up!

On first application, this was overwhelmingly dead leaves - almost headache-inducingly strong DL with no hint of sweetness or violet. After about half an hour though, the DL had totally 'burned off', leaving pure Parma Violet - exactly what I wanted! Once it gets to the violet stage is has good throw and wear length.

On my skin this isn't as light and sweet as the other reviews suggest. It's a beautiful incense with the tiniest touch of sugar and a definite stone/cement/architectural note. It isn't as sweet or delicate as I expected but it's very atmospheric and quite haunting, and I will enjoy using it on moody days.

I only got into BPAL this year so I didn't get to try the original Antique Lace, though I do have a smidgen of original Dorian. When AL was re-released I excitedly bought a bottle but ended up swapping it away because I was thoroughly underwhelmed - on my skin it was no different to Burberry Brit EDT.

For me Paper Phoenix elevates AL to what I was expecting it to be. The Dorian tea note is strong but it blends beautifully with the vanilla of AL, and on my skin there is just a hint of pink peppercorn and lavender to add a little bit of complexity. It lasts all day on me, and has decent throw too.

In short, this is perfection. It may have even knocked Hesiod's Phoenix off the top spot in my BPAL all-time favourites list!

When I tried this fresh from the mail it was pretty much pure vetiver and really quite unpleasant, even though I tend to enjoy vetiver a lot more than some.

A few days later it's settled down a bit but the vetiver is still really strong, there's definitely more than a drop in my bottle! I get the bourbon vanilla now though as well as a hint of the redcurrant, and I actually think I quite like it - it's just completely different than what I expected! I am hoping, though, that aging will bring more vanilla out, and in the meantime I'm going to try some on my husband as I think it might work well on a man.

Is there anything GC or currently available that can be compared with Hesiod's Phoenix? I searched this thread and found a couple of recommendations for things that are now DC'd themselves. Any suggestions very welcome as I'm losing hope of finding any more HP!

Autumn Overlooked My Knitting is probably the coziest BPAL scent I have ever smelled. COZY.

Just that name is so cozy, without even knowing the notes I need to try it!

(Feel free to move this onto an existing thread, I was surprised I couldn't find a suitable one!)

What are your favourite scents for cozy days? Not sleep scents, to me they're a bit different (lavender, basically), but more like a wooly jumper in scent form.

Mine are Hesiod's Phoenix and Morocco.

I'm really hoping to hear of some that are currently available, but all coziness is welcome!

 

Going back and looking at my review, Pleasures I was pure chemically smelling leather on me. Totally overwhelming and unpleasant to my nose, from wet to dry. Nobodies starts out that way too, but it quickly dries to a much softer, smoother leather scent that I quite enjoy (and I am really picky about leather) HTH!

 

That's a big help. That's exactly how Pleasures I is on me too, but I love leather generally so I've been hoping Nobodies would be softer - thanks!

If I find Pleasures of the Imagination I too accurately black leather to be enjoyable (it reminds me of horse riding as a kid), will Nobodies Watching Wrestling not work for me either?

It's not valerian, but have you tried Anesthesia? It's lavender & peppermint so it's got a couple of the same ingredients as your pillow mist. I haven't tried Lurid but I have tried TKO and the lavender in Anesthesia is very different - TKO goes very wonky on me but Anesthesia smells like proper French purple lavender. For me it's the perfect sleep scent.

Otherwise, as annemathematics says TAL have a couple of sleep scents. I can't smell the lavender in Nocturne because I amp some other note in it, but it definitely works for getting me to sleep.

Unfortunately I don't get any of the notes mentioned in previous reviews from my bottle of Nocturne. No lavender, no rose, maybe just the slightest hint of jasmine. I get a strong, sharp citrus, a bit like those mosquito repellant candles. I do amp lemon terribly, so there must just be a small amount in it and my skin is ignoring every other note.

So, to me it doesn't smell great. BUT. I've been suffering a bout of insomnia after coming off some medication that had amazing sleep as a side-effect. I'd been getting at most a couple of hours sleep a night, and when I did sleep I had extremely vivid, violent, creepy nightmares. But this is proving so effective, for the past 3 nights I've fallen asleep within half an hour and actually stayed asleep until morning. The nightmares have gone, replaced by my usual odd but not unsettling dreams

It's totally different from my usual sleep scent, Anesthesia, in that the actual smell doesn't comfort me, but something about it just plain works. I'm so glad I've got a bottle!

Top Four (I'm so new I don't even have 5!)

1. TKO

2. Antique Lace

3. Samhain

4. Gobo (could do with less cream I love sharp orange)

 

Currently trying to find/waiting for: stekkjarstaur and a moment in time. I adore lavender so much I got into BPAL because bronner's lavender soap never stuck around after a shower.

I love lavender too, and my favourites are Anesthesia (lavender & peppermint) and Mummeries & Other Straining to be Remembered Passages (Lavender, Blackberry, Bergamot & Rosemary). For me Anesthesia is the ultimate lavender sleep scent, and it's the most typical/French lavender bpal scent I've tried.

If you like Gobo you could also try Bones of Capys (king mandarin, tobacco, sandalwood & chamomile). It has some creaminess to it but on my skin it's definitely a 'grown up', quite unisex orange scent.

Can anyone recommend any scents involving sugary violets other than Faith (which I keep meaning to buy and forget every time I make an order!) I used to think I liked violet in general but I'm starting to realise that what I actually like is those Parma Violet sweets, so anything along those lines would be great

My favourite 'pretty' scent is Die Begierde - despite the (gorgeous but boozy) cognac note it's still a lovely, sugary sweet pink rose. It's got amazing lasting power too, when my skin normally eats sweet scents in minutes!

On my skin the rose in this scent is very subtle, in the background far behind the sugar and honey. When first applied I get a disappointing play-doh note , but thankfully this calms down after 30 mins or so. It has surprisingly good wear length for a sweet scent, medium throw.

I like this, but I don't love it -there's not quite enough rose for this flower-addict. It is really pretty though, and I'd definitely recommend it for people who are only so-so about roses.

American Gods is full of really great phrases, and 'for the joy of it' is one of my favourites so I had to get this!

Wet: Sweet, heady and boozy. Fun, but not wearable for me.

Dry: I almost washed it off at the wet stage but I'm glad I persisted. After 30mins or so it developed into a handsome cologne combined with a touch of cinder toffee. Medium throw and wear length, and I couldn't stop sniffing my arm for the duration.

I'm not sure I'd get a bottle of this because of the sickly wet stage, but I'll definitely get through my decant.

Thank you both! I've bought an imp of Penny Dreadful, and I've blind bottled Rakshasa and Witch Queen because they sound so lovely.

I'm looking for a last bottle to add to an order, so I'll give any recommendation I get from this a try!

In no particular order, my top 5 are:

- Anesthesia

- Flickering Lantern / The Light of Men's Lives (cheating a bit, but they smell almost identical on me)

- Bones of Capys

- Zombi

- Liz

More of a rant than a question... I just received a package from BPAL and customs had torn it to pieces! Fair enough that the outer packet had to be torn open and taped back up, but the inner box was also torn open and left that way, and all the bottles had been taken out of their bubble wrap so they were just rattling around. The outer packet is really filthy too, for some reason!

Obviously I'm glad not to be charged VAT after all of that, but even so it's pretty annoying they couldn't make sure glass bottles are secure after checking them

Is there anything like 4711 cologne, or Tom Ford Neroli Portofino? These smell identical on my skin, so I can't see the point in spending TF money but 4711 has no longevity. I think the key notes in both are neroli and bergamot, but the end result is a unisex, bordering on masculine, cologne with a slightly medicinal edge (to be honest, they both smell exactly like Savlon antiseptic cream to me - I just happen to love the smell of Savlon!).

 

In case I fail in my quest to buy Comedy Queen... is there anything comparable in the GC, or a less rare LE? It's the honey & orange combo I'm particularly interested in.

 

it really isn't orangey at all; it's orange blossomy. i find it very similar to the recent (and probably not hard to find) LE Swift as Light, Beauteous in Color, Charming in Song - which i like more than Comedy Queen. Like the Flashing of Light is also in a very similar vein (same collection as Swift as Light), and has both neroli and king mandarin in it, so you might like that even more.

Check out Luper- Entertaining the Heian Court Maiden because Comedy Queen dried down to practically the same scent on me. Also, the honey in Womb Fury is very similar along with the Swift as Light, Krysee and O mentioned above. Honestly, any of these are BETTER than Comedy Queen but I totally understand chasing something because of the notes In terms of GC's and/or things in stock: Pandy, Katharina, Jiggery Pokery, and kindof a stretch but similar, Hollywood Babylon.

Ooh, thanks very much for this you two, you've killed a frustrating craving! I have Swift as Light and I'm not too fond of it, don't think it works very well on my skin, and I didn't expect it to smell similar from the (limited) reviews. I already have Womb Furie, so I'll probably just keep an eye out for Entertaining the Heian Court Maiden and forget about paying silly money for CQ!

It's pretty similar to 'O'. Maybe layer it with something that is orange or Orange Blossom dominant. Khrysee.

Ooh thanks, I think I have an O imp somewhere, I'll dab a bit of Bones of Capys over it and see what happens

In case I fail in my quest to buy Comedy Queen... is there anything comparable in the GC, or a less rare LE? It's the honey & orange combo I'm particularly interested in.

I love both, but Zombi is my soily grail (or sometimes Deep In Earth... They're both so great). Cicuta is much more rosy and not earthy on me. That said, it is similar to The House - when I was having a ruthless sort through things to sell, it was down to those two, but Cicuta wins by a mile for me.

 

How similar, if at all, are Zombi & Cicuta? I'm really tempted by Cicuta but don't need another earthy rose scent as I love Zombi, and I'm wondering whether the non-rose notes will translate to a similar earthiness.

 

If they aren't at all alike, is Cicuta comparable to anything else? I've read the reviews and I'm hovering over the order button but being uncharacteristically hesitant!

 

Thanks!

 

I don't find Cicuta to be earthy really at all. It's more of a dry dusty rose with smoke and a hint of resin. Zombi is mostly dirt on me.

Thanks to you both - I've hit order! It's passed me by in previous searches for rose scents for some reason, can't wait to try it!