naeelah

Just agreeing that I find Agrat very caramel-y and not so much like Glowing Vulva. It's in the same general scent family, sure, but definitely not a dead ringer. GV isn't at all sugary, but Agrat distinctively has a caramel note. The apple blossom was pretty strong for me too, whereas I got almost no floral sense out of GV. So I'd say Agrat is worth trying if you like that kind of scent and want a new take on it, but not if you want a dupe.

This is a very smooth and creamy bar. It's the color of milky coffee and it has a soft texture. The scent is very rounded. Compared to the perfume oil, it doesn't have so much of the sugariness, booze, or dust -- it just smells like sweetened, milky coffee and polished, warm woods. It's a gentle sweetness, not so strong and caramel-like as the perfume. The overall strength of the scent is moderate. I don't find it any more or less moisturizing than other BPTP bars. It's not quite as soft as El Dia de Reyes, so it doesn't melt quite as quickly, but it was one of the softer bars I've tried.

This is the only BPTP soap that I flat out have not liked, so far. I got a slice from a decant circle to try, and I actually had to force myself to keep bathing with it. The scent was so strong and stuffy that it choked me. I don't even know what it smelled like, it just gave me the "musty death" quality that I seem to hate. The second time I used it, after it had been sitting in the open air on the side of the tub for a few days, I found the scent much more bearable. It's still strong, but now it has a better resemblance to the perfume oil. Dark, dark incense with a hint of sweetness. The sweetness seems pretty minimal in the soap. It's very smoky. So once it airs out a little, it's better, but apparently I don't care for dark, smoky scents in the bath. The bar itself is dark brown, a little bit harder than some other BPTP soaps, and it's painfully scrubby. It's not so much sandalwood powder as sandalwood splinters. I found TKO to be very exfoliating, but in a much gentler way. The fiber in that soap is softer, or a finer grain; this feels like it's scratching my skin.

Personally, I don't think Blood Countess smells at all like Nahemoth, although it is in a similar kind of scent family. Blood Countess is waaay to heavy on the champaca to be a close match. (Blood Countess, to me, smells most like John Seward.) Hellion probably is the best match for Nahemoth, but when I go home, I'll plunder my incense collection to see if something is at all similar. I feel like I discovered a slightly plummy incense blend recently, but I don't remember what it was...

Nanny Ashtoreth. It's leather liek wo4h. (eta: It has a musky, waxy, floral berry quality too, but far and away, this is a LEATHER blend.)

I agree with Antykithera Mechanism being a LOT like Glowing Vulva. I didn't find it so masculine, but it's probably a wee bit darker than Glowing Vulva, but the creamy wood effect was very similar.

I haven't tried the Maltese Cross, but for me, The Ifrit was VERY similar to Red Moon. When the spices come out on the dry down, it deviates a bit, but overall, very similar. The other main difference is that the Ifrit doesn't have any citrus, but citrus burns away so quickly on my skin that it was a very small difference, to my nose.

Compared with the oil, TKO soap smelled almost like a single note lavender blend to me. I didn't really smell any of the sugary vanillaness. It's nice and it's soothing, but it didn't smell as complex as the usual TKO. The bar itself is quite scrubby. I've tried nearly every BPTP soap now, and the only thing scrubbier than this was Al Azif. I don't think I'll be getting more TKO soap in the future, but a bath oil would be fantastic....hint.... (I guess you could try using the massage oil?)

Definitely seconding Clemence! She is creamy, spicy amazingness. The patchouli was surprisingly light for me. I think Clemence smells like a more sophisticated, less foody version of Gingerbread Poppet. ETA 1/09: Now that my bottle is a bit aged it's distinctly patchouli heavy, but in a way that I can tolerate, even as extremely patchouli phobic as I am. It smells like really wood-y chai tea. Which I guess is what it's supposed to smell like. It's not dessert-like at all.

This is so predominately clove-y that I have a hard time picking out the other notes. They are definitely in play, but they blend very well. I think this is a lot like I wanted Count Dracula to be. Black musk and I don't get along that well, it turns out. I find the amber musk here much more agreeable. It smells a lot like you'd expect -- not dark, not bright, not feral, just...ambery -- although with everything blending together, from a distance, I think of red musk. I almost never get a sense of grapes or cherries from this. (Grapes from the grape note, cherries from the blood.) There is a very faint sweetness that helps round out the scent, but I don't get a specific sense of fruit. I also never detect any vetiver (which I was afraid might be a component of the blood accord). The woods blend really well with the clove. I think this is my favorite use of cypress so far in BPAL, because I never sniff and think "oh, evergreens". The evergreen quality really complements the clove, so instead of smelling like pencil shavings, it's just wonderfully crisp and woody. Something in this provides an almost leathery quality. This is, by far, a dark, bitter clove blend, rounded out by resins and woods. It's lighter than I expected, which is really nice. It's definitely unisex, but nowhere near as maculine as, say, Calico Jack, Count Dracula, or even Smiling Spider. I shy away from overly manly blends, but I find this one very wearable. It lasts forEVER too.

Eisheth morphs a lot as she settles down. Like several other grindhouse ladies, she starts out with a surprising sharpness. I think a lot of this is coming from the patchouli, because I've noticed the same quality in a couple of other patchouli heavy ladies. There's also a strong floral quality starting off, which must be the neroli. As it begins to dry and warm on the skin, the sharpness immediately begins to burn away and let a wonderful, sweet liqueur through. I can smell just a hint of cocoa (I never saw any droplets in the bottle, so I think it's low in the blend), with honey and light peach. The honey is light and sweet, a lot like Fairy Wine -- not thick and cloying, not waxy. The peach is also light, fresh, and juicy. It's in good balance with the honey, so you can distinguish them, but at a casual sniff, they play together and form a fae sweetness. The patchouli is light, even on me, and I amp patchouli like woah. So THIS is what patchouli blends are supposed to smell like! It has a grounding effect, in the background, without taking over and making it smell dirty. The neroli is still pretty strong, but I think it provides good balance for the sweetness. By now, I can't really pick out the cocoa. Finally, it's a lightly fruit, sweet blend, balanced out by the patchouli and neroli. Don't get this expecting it to be overly chocolaty. It's a great one for honey or peach lovers! Try it if you like: La Vague, Fairy Wine, Lady Una, Imp...

Ooh, this is lovely. It's a morpher, but subtly. I don't have detailed notes on it, but in short, it really reminds me of Red Moon '07, minus the citrus notes. It starts out with a blast of "sand", dragon's blood, and red musk. The red musk here is the sweet, almost fruity kind. I don't get much of the prickliness that I can get from other red musk blends. As it dries, the spices emerge. The spices are subtle. I can tell that there's cinnamon and ginger, not as much the black pepper, but they all behave wonderfully. So does the tobacco, which usually amps up to "ashtray" for me. In fact, I never quite pick out the tobacco. It blends well. As I said, it morphs. Sometimes it smells just like Red Moon, sometimes the dragon's blood is strongest, sometimes the spices are strongest, sometimes the sand is strongest... You mileage will most certainly vary, but I think that might give you an idea of the kinds of variations you can get from this scent. In the end, I think the sand, musk, and dragon's blood are the heart of this scent. The other notes provide richness and character, but they never take over. It's wonderfully evocative of the desert. After a number of hours, it's a soft, warm, slightly powdery dragon's blood blend. Again, very similar to Red Moon. It lasts, and it's deceptively strong. I put on the usual amount, and it turns out that usual=slathering, in this case. Use a light hand! It has taken about 6 hours to fade down. It's still noticeable within a close range, it just isn't creating the same cloud that it was several hours ago. Try it if you like: Red Moon, Wrath, Aries, War...

This is very much like a darker, butcher Aziraphale. The paper note is the same, and it also has that same hint of fruitiness, although without the golden musk, the effect isn't as pronounced. Slightly dusty paper is the strongest note, with a cloud of incense and a hint of leather. I'm trying to think of the best comparison for the incense. It's a dark incense, a little bit like The Pit and the Pendulum or Al-Azif (minus the sweetness), but it's moderate in effect. The tobacco is quite tame. I barely smell it at all. (Which is good, because I tend to amp it until I smell like an ashtray.) It seems to lend a slight earthy dustiness. The leather is noticeable but moderate. I think the ratio of all the notes in this is just right -- paper is strongest, and nothing is overwhelming -- but after a couple of hours, some of the leather and tobacco fades away, leaving something that smells identical to Aziraphale with a hint of dark incense. Try it if you like paper/book blends and Aziraphale. If Aziraphale was close but no cigar for you, you might have better luck with this. Don't try it if you're hoping for something drastically different from Aziraphale. And holy crap, does this stuff last!

The closest GC match, IMO, is Smiling Spider. It smells mainly of black musk and clove, which is mainly what Dracula smelled like on me. To get all the woods and leather and such, you'll need to layer something else. Calico Jack made me think of Dracula at sea. Wood and leather with aquatics and a hint of clove. Layered with Smiling Spider, it could have a nice effect. BTW, don't forget about the LE to GC comparison thread, which is probably where this post will end up. If you search in that thread, you might find some past suggestions.

I could have sworn I reviewed this already, but I guess not! When this was fresh, it was very much snake oil with leather. Pretty straight-forward. That is to say, it has a LOT of leather, but as it dries, it mingles better with the Snake Oil. The sage and sandalwood together provided slight dryness and grassiness. They balanced very well with the snake oil. I don't have the best luck with red sandalwood (it amps way out of control), but here, it didn't go weird at all. After about 9 months, though, this scent is even more freaking amazing. Leather and Snake Oil are still the most predominant notes (and it's very strong), but now the tonka has really come into bloom. It has an amazing, organic sweetness. It's like vanilla, but without the plastic or foody quality that vanilla can have. I really don't smell the sage very much any more (the dry, grassy quality is sorta gone), but the red sandalwood has aged nicely. It's a faint prickle playing behind the smoothness of the leather and Snake Oil. Fresh or aged, this is still one of my favorite leather blends. I will be hoarding this one.

This is the most incredibly long lasting fruity BPAL I've ever tried. I nearly passed this one over, but then something went off in the back of my head and I just had to have it. It morphs very little for me. From start to finish, it's thick, sweet blueberry and papaya with a hint of lemongrass and a top note of gin. The gin is not boozy, in that it doesn't smell like you've just splashed a bottle of Tanqueray all over yourself. It smells like gin, but without the alcohol. It's bright and clean and works about like white musk in this blend. Any alcohol scent quickly burns off, for me. The blueberry is the most distinctive quality of this, for me. The papaya is definitely there, but to my nose, it simply blends with the blueberry and makes it more syrupy. The lemongrass is very well behaved, which is a little disappointing, actually. I kind of hoped this would go more herbal, but it looks like my skin chemistry wants it to be properly fruity. Throw is good, and it has some of the best staying power of any of the hundreds of BPAL scents I've tried.

Because I tend to amp rose, this smells nearly identical to Rose Cross on me. The resins are slightly less thick and complex -- this is definitely recognizable as myrrh. It has a distinctive dry quality. Not earthy or sweet, just dry and lightly smoky. The jasmine adds an extra dimension and a hint of sweetness, but because the rose is so strong on my skin, it's a very minute difference. The rose is the rich, red rose note that's used a lot in the lab's heady rose blends. Throw is good. I'm not sure if I prefer this to Rose Cross. The jasmine does add a little something. I think this is a tiny bit lighter and girlier than Rose Cross - it's more personable and less regal - but it's still a mysterious, heady blend.

Lightning splits the sky, illuminating the skeletal skyline of the carnival rides: sugared incense and night-blooming flowers Wet, this is very sweet, very much like cotton candy. But as it dries, the sugar burns off and reveals a hint of smoke and night blooming flowers. The flowers are smooth and sweet, bright enough to stand out from the sugar but not piercing or overly strong. This is not so much a heavy, smoky, incense blend as a floral cotton candy with just a hint of incense, adding depth. It doesn't morph, really, so it's quite straightforward. It's a warm, breezy night at the carnival -- not a dark and sinister one.

I was expecting a lemony cherry scent, and so I was pretty confused when I put it on and smelled cinnamon. Actually, I'm still confused, because cassia isn't one of the notes. I would guess that I'm smelling the cardamom, but that doesn't make sense, because cardamom does not smell like cinnamon. It has a minty quality. I guess I amp whatever is causing the cinnamon/cassia-like note, because I really get almost nothing else out of this. I can detect faint traces of patchouli, verbena, and a bit of sweetness from the cherry. From a distance, I can also catch a whiff of the cardamom. But they're like echoes behind the spice. FWIW, I believe my imp is NOT fresh, so apparently the spicy quality gets stronger with age. ETA: The review above mine references a fresh bottle, and hers also smells of cassia. The oil tingled on my skin and now I have a full-blown rash, so there is DEFNITELY cassia or something in this that is not listed in the notes. ETA again: I e-mailed the lab, and they say there is no cassia in this. I don't think it's the cardamom that smells like cinnamon, because I've tried several blends with cardamom and never had this cinnamony scent. It's a mystery. But I would recommend avoiding this if you have a history of contact dermatitis, especially with cinnamon or cassia. It looks like bad reactions with this blend are fairly common.

There's no "unisex" about Valmont. It's all cologne. Very light and clean, but with a crisp muskiness from the ambergris and white musk. Very much a classic, traditional men's scent. It's not as herbal as you might think, which is a bit disappointing. For example, I can't pick out the mint at all. It's really quite aquatic. As it dries, the aquatic quality fades a bit and lets more of the individual notes stand out. The moss is quite strong on my skin. I can probably smell the mints, but they're contributing to the cool cologne quality, and not calling attention to themselves. I can find just a hint of orange blossom and rosemary. The throw is quite good.

The way this smells when wet is really unusual. Stiflingly, earthily dark. I didn't know what the notes were when I put it on, and I had no idea where to start guessing. Definitely smells like a Lovecraftian blend, though! Once dry, the ozone quality is most predominant. It's very aquatic, but I don't get a masculine, cologne-like sense form it. Underneath that is a dark incense a little bit similar to Al-Azif, but earthier. It's hard to get a good feel on it, because the aquatic quality is SO overwhelming on my skin. The incense is really faint. So, this is surprisingly light and clean. Huh. Definitely don't try it if you're hoping for something like Al-Azif or Black Mass, but do try it if you'd like light, clean blend that has the depth of a heavier earthy blend.

... Their scent is a mishmash of snow, dirt, Icelandic moss, marsh felwort, and the smushed petals of buttercups and moorland spotted orchids, with the barest hint of the scent of pilfered Christmas pastries. Wow, this is such an interesting scent. It's half slushy, wintery landscape, half sugar cookies. The sugar here is a rich, burnt brown sugar-like note, as in Chanukkiya or Anaconda. It's very strong right at first, but it evaporates as the scent dries. In the end, I would say it's definitely more of a floral/slush blend than foody. The landscape is smooth florals, ozoney winter slush, chilly evergreens, a little bit of dirt, and just a hint of christmas cookies. I think the florals are more predominant than the dirt or the slush. I didn't expect to love this, but I'm glad I tried it. It's definitely a unique blend. Try it if you like: The Carpathian Mountains, Old Moon

I think this blend is very classic and sophisticated. I'm not entirely sure what I smell off the bat -- skin musk, and something sweet and creamy, which must be the honey but smells more vanilla-like. That initial sugariness promptly burns off and the magnolia takes over. I'm not a big magnolia fan (more of than not, I'm allergic to it), but this French Magnolia note is much nicer. Still magnolia-like, of course, but it isn't giving me a headache, and as it wears, it behaves very well. The most prominent notes that I'm getting are magnolia, skin musk, and sandalwood, with a hint of soft, creamy honey. (This is not the gooey, sickening honey of some other blends. It's waxier.) Luckily for me and other patchouli haters, I can't even tell that there's patchouli in this blend. (That's a miracle unto itself.) It's a very "white" scent, but the combination of the skin musk and honey makes it very unlike other white florals blends. Instead of being dry and piercing, it's lush and feminine. Try if it you like: Eos, Vasakassajja...

Yep, it's piney! It's a lovely, fresh, cool pine, though. It does NOT bring to mind Pine Sol or other cleaning products, nor does it conjure memories of long cab rides. It smells quite similar to the pine in Old Moon (which, admittedly, is one of the only other pine scents I have experience with). As it wears, it becomes a tiny bit sweeter and sappier. Very much like a freshly trimmed pine branch! The "cool" quality that I get in the beginning eventually reveals itself as an aquatic note, but it's soft and not ozoney. It is fairly strong, though. So when Beth says "dewy", she means it! It's definitely not for me, for a perfume, but it would make a lovely winter atmospheric blend.

This is a lovely tropical scent. Wet, it's fresh oranges with greenery, plumeria, and a hint of smokiness. As it dries, it remains much the same, but with a greater floral sense. Very much gives you the sense of being in a tropical forest. The orange evaporates, so dry it's not so fruity. Mostly just like a rainforest with a hint of incense. There's a slight soapiness (or something) initially, but as it wears, this goes away and the florals are just lush, creamy, and sweet. The smokiness is VERY faint so far. Incense notes tend to amp as they wear, for me, but that isn't happening here.