phantasmmysteria

Oh.... oh my, yes.

 

In the bottle and wet, I swear that this is the red musk of my much-loved Marianne (though perhaps it's a trick of the berries' sweetness mixing with the musk). There's also a burst of floral here, which I am going to guess if from the kewda attar. "Heady, pungent and very tenacious..." yes, I would agree! It seems to lend a bit of spiciness to the scent, as well, particularly in the throw. As it dies, I no longer get the Marianne association, but am reminded of another fruity floral, Dark Delicacies.

 

As this dries, it does go a bit sharp on my skin, and the note I was hoping for most (the nepalese amber) is hidden in the mix of fruit and floral. Still, this is a gorgeous blend. I have no doubt that a little age will do wonders for this blend, and I think I'll be seeking out another bottle just for that purpose.

This is my Shunga winner for the year!

 

Now, my skin has a tendency to amp sweets, so this smells much more like coconut macaroon, less like fresh coconut. If I concentrate on huffing my wrist, I can detect the slight nuttiness and the hint of anise blending with the coconut (the white amber is basically undetectable, but I imagine that will change with time). The combination really sings on my skin: it's creamy and comforting, but still light enough to wear in the office and as the weather warms.

 

Love.

I cast Magic Missile at the darkness.

Hey guuuuuuuys, wheeeeere's the Mountaaaaiiiiin Deeeeeeew??

 

Seriously, the moment I sniffed this, that short is all I could think about. This smells just like Mountain Freaking Dew! How does she do that??

 

I'm sorry, but that's really all I can contribute to this thread, because the only difference I get wet-dry is that the scent loses its "carbonation." Now, I don't really want to walk around smelling like I've spilled soda on myself, but the concept is hilarious.

In the Imp: Hmmm, there's a tartness here that I wasn't expecting -- perhaps the strawberry and the effervescence mingling together?

 

Wet: Upon hitting the skin, this threatens for a moment to turn into Generic Shampoo Fragrance #4, but once it settles down I am reminded of one of those scent memories I cannot quite figure out. It's the damndest thing, and I always hate when that happen-- Oh! I remember now. It's the way the fruits and the iris are mingling together, but it reminds me of a Bath & Body Works perfume I had about half my life ago. At one point B&BW had astrologically-themed perfumes marketed toward the tweens, and Loli.Goth reminds me of Libra. Now, typically anything described as "tween-oriented" would be an unappealing characterization, but we ARE talking about Lolitas here.

 

Dry: This doesn't morph much on me as it dries. If I were to give it a color, though, it would be apricot instead of pink. It'b both bright and soft simultaneously, if that makes any sense at all.

 

Verdict: What I really think is that Beth has managed to obtain unicorn piss and is passing it off to us as Loli.Goth. I'm just sayin'.

Mmmmmm, now THIS is a cherry I can love! Thank you so much GypsyRoseRed for sharing with us by was of sniffy circle.

 

In the imp: Definitely cherries, but this isn't a cough syrup or are-these-cherries-or-are-they-almonds? kind. They are deep, velvety, and sweet.

 

On Skin: This quickly mellows out and the cherry fades to the background, letting the musk come forward -- not a lot, but I can smell it. I usually amp musks, but here the effect is soft and pretty.

 

Dry: This lays close to my skin, imparting a subtle, feminine fragrance with the slightest hint of cherries.

 

Verdict: I like it so much more than I expected to, but I am most certainly going to have to track down some for my own!

So.... Teh Manthing seems to have finally lost his damn mind, because he went and proposed to me last Saturday!!

 

I knew that someday we would marry, but he completely took me by (a very, very pleasant) suprise. *stares at Teh Shiny he bought me*

 

So!! Even though we're planning on a long engagement (like, 2 years), of course I've been thinking about wedding plans. And what better detail to start with than what BPAL to wear on The Day?

 

Nothing's been hammered out yet obviously, but of the ideas I've gotten from Teh Manthing and what friends have been helpfully giving me, I have two ideas so far: Either having a small wedding with close family and some friends at the beach, and then perhaps another reception for all of our friends here at home; or a large outdoor wedding closer to home (Sewanee Mountain is not far from where I grew up, and the scenery is gorgeous).

 

Now if we go with the beachside wedding, I'm not sure what I'll wear; Teh Manthing is rather peculiar in his scent preferences, so I have to be careful of anything with a lot of musk (anything with white musk he says smells like incense) or honey (he hates it!). But something oceanic and tropical feeling would be perfect, so I am thinking maybe Thalassa the Galapagos Mermaid (one of the ONLY acquatics that actually smells good on me and that I enjoy), Snow White (total opposite end of the spectrum, but the strong coconut I get from it would make it read very beach-appropriate), or Tiki Princess (once I smell it! I'm hoping for a Hawaiian Snow White, TBH ). If we do decide upon the destination wedding, then I would like to have the local reception and wear Agape -- it just seems so appropriate for the spirit of coming together to share in a newly-wedded couple's happiness and wish them well.

 

Now, for Scenario Numbah Two! The mountains of Tennessee in autumn are pretty damn gorgeous, I'm not gonna lie. HOWEVER, there are exactly zero BPAL Halloweenie/Autumn scents which work with my skin chemistry!! Aaaack! The only two scents I can think of off the top of my head are The Illustrated Woman (which is aaaaahmazing, to be sure) and Crypt Queen (). This one is definitely a bit trickier, so if anyone has any suggestions for things I might try, please let me know!

This is one of those scents that's been on my wishlist for a good long while, but that I never actively persued because I didn't think it was going to work for me. I love it when I'm pleasantly suprised!

 

Wet: Judging from the wet stage, this spells doom for me. There's LOTS of rose right off the bat, as well as something that lends an incensy vibe to the blend without being particularly resinous because I don't amp it -- I recall someone mentioning champa flower, so perhaps that's it? Man I am no good with floral notes...

 

Dry: It takes about a half hour to get there (during which I have to resist the urge to huff my wrist because it's all sour rose and cardamom doing something weird in the background), but after that I get this amazing blend of spices and sweetness with just the faintest whiff of flowers that flit about. It's really magical. I'm not quite sure if there is anything in this blend sweetening it up or if it's just my chemistry, but this eventually smells like vanilla chai or spice cookies on my skin with a throw of roses (mmm, spice cookies made with rosewater? I might have to try that!).

 

Verdict: Big bottle plz.

Okay, I have NO IDEA what's going on here, but my impression of this scent are so far out in left field I wonder if we are even sharing the same perfume!

 

When I first sniffed this the musk most closely resembled Ivanushka to me -- a sweetish-powdery-animalistic musk, but even out of the bottle I keept thinking, "there's something about this that I don't like." Just like any good future victim of this type of horror film, I dismiss my first sniff and swipe a bit on anyway.

 

This would be the part of the story where all hell starts to break loose.

 

This scent never gets to the point where I have to wash it off (though I didn't apply much), but it just slowly amps up on my skin over time, and eventually it gets to the point that smelling it actually makes me feel physically repulsed. Perfume... that gives me the creeps?? Holy shit!

 

Verdict: I don't know if this was Beth's intention for this perfume or not, but it's pure genius. I love musks, and I wish I could wear this one, but the simple fact that this rings so true to the feel of this horror genre makes me love it anyway.

I am just thrilled to pieces to have found a swapee who was willing to part with her bottle of Bat of Wealth! I'm always on the lookout for something similar to Crypt Queen, one of my undying (pardon the pun) loves, and so that's what I was hoping for with Wealth.

 

In bottle: LOTS of heliotrope as well as bergamot! The effect is sweet and fruity, but the florals fake my nose out at first by lending the impression of a much sweeter fruit than I know are lurking about underneath.

 

Wet: For the first few minutes, the florals are still dominant, but not overwhelming. As I was hoping for something akin to Crypt Queen, this is a much a much juicier scent than I was expecting -- these are fresh fruits and flowers from the garden, with just a tinge of soil still clinging to them, as opposed to overripe fruit (juices fermenting) at the bottom of the compost heap. Sadly for me, whatever blackberry is lurking in this scent seems to be hiding.

 

Dry: Ahh, the patch is finally coming out to play and comingling with the fruit a little more. It's pretty faint, but has a little spicy tang which I get when I take a deep breath.

 

Verdict: I think with some further aging everything will round out, but I have to say this is the less dead cousin of the Crypt Queen.

It's very pretty, and will make a great earthy scent for the summers down South.

 

 

I would just like to add two more recs to the list: Eos and Twilight (but Eos especially). The South (to me) always smells like blooming honeysuckle, which is probably why both of these immediately sprang to mind.

 

Eos: The Rising Sun. She is Ostara, Easter, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of fertility and the dawn. She is a protector and friend to all children. Her scent is that of softly glowing skin, jasmine, buttercup and honeysuckle.

 

Okay, so no gardenia (and I'm not sure how you feel about jasmine, but it's not the dominant flower for me. If you're looking for eternally youthful perfume, you can't get much better than this.

 

Twilight: An enigmatic, otherworldly scent, brimming with power and mystery. Lavender and jasmine, with a touch of glowing honeysuckle.

 

Again with the jasmine, but the three flowers balance each other very nicely.

 

If you're looking to layer some gardenia with your Antique Lace, I might suggest Sacred Whore of Babylon -- it's very heavy on the gardenia.

I recently tried Australian Copperhead and I love love love love love it. Apparently I love the way acai berries smell. Unfortunately, there are only 2 other scents available with acai. Does anyone know if the Slippery Poppy Tincture or Daiyu have a similarly bright red berry scent?

 

I can pick out the acai in both of the aforementioned blends, but neither works half so well for me as Australian Copperhead does.

 

The acai is more prominent in SPT, but the poppy has a LOT of greenery. It smells very fresh and almost damp (slippery!), which is probably why it doesn't work for me. If you can do green/aquatic blends, you might enjoy it.

 

Daiyu was more chrysanthemum tea with a hint of acai.

There's little I can say about this blend other than it's absolutely fascinating. I was really skeptical about the seemingly random list of notes, but as the protrait on the bottle is my favorite of the Ode to Aphrodite series I just couldn't resist.

 

In the bottle: WOW, that's got some zing to it! The pink pepper is all I can make out -- not a bad sign IMO.

 

Wet: This sweetens up on the skin, but not overly so. It took me a couple of wears to register the scent memory, but the wet stage actually reminds me of my favorite chai. It's warm and a little kicky and just a tad sweet. The pink pepper remains in the forefront, and everything else just swirls together beautifully.

 

Dry: As this sinks into my skin, I can faintly make out some of the other notes -- a tiny bit of rose here, maybe a smidge of Balsam of Peru... I was hoping for a little fruitiness and dreading the caramel, but neither of those want to make an appearance.

 

Verdict: I can see why this blend was named Mother of Desire. She is beautiful and warm, arms open and inviting her lover into her bosom for comfort; all the while making her lover's body burn with passion and need. A definite keeper.

Well, I'm going to skip the BPAL comparisons completely and venture over into another perfumer entirely!

 

In the imp, this is thick, luscious, but slightly unripe fruit. I think this wine has some raspberry or stone fruit in addition to the plum.

 

On my skin, this is a dead-ringer for Mara Fox's Nox. Definitely some strong-tasting fruits (rarely plum plays nice on it's own, and here this reacts much the same way the fruits in Crypt Queen do) and sharp sandalwood. This is no wallflower, people! I only swiped the wand onto my wrists once, but I got strong wafts of this one all morning. Upon drydown, the champaca/sandalwood threaten to become overbearing, but this eventually calms down.

 

Verdict: I get from this what I was hoping to get from Dionysia, though this is going to need some age to take the edge off.

In the imp: LOTS of gorgeous white musk, almost to the exclusion of everything else. I might be able to detect just a little bit of floral mixed in (I'm guessing the tobacco flower, which has a sort of dry quality)

Wet: More of the same up close on the skin, though I get some sweetness in the throw. Luckily for me, the oakmoss is behaving! Up close, this blend is very reminiscent of Ozymandias, but isn't nearly as sharp and dry thanks to the other notes.

Dry: This blend morphs very little for me, though as it wears the white amber/musk combo does get more powdery in a pleasant way. I can also pick out the tobacco flower a bit more, but the oakmoss is still being incredibly subtle. The throw remains sweet coconut meat -- I keep catching little wafts of it when I more my arms .

Verdict: I really enjoy this, and now I'm sad that I ordered a bottle of Yvaine in my 13 order, because now I think I'd prefer a bottle of Dia for my musk needs!

Bumping this thread to see if there are any new reccomendations, or if anyone can help me out!

 

Have recently found out that my fiance loves fruity smells! Since I have been with the man for about 2 1/2 years now, that will show you just how many fruity perfumes I own! Unfortunately the blend that he liked was Earth Ox, which has the PEONY OF SOAPY DEATH in it, so after it settled on my skin he agreed that it smelled "like shampoo."

 

Generally, I'm a floral girl, with a bit of a gorumand edge, but there are lots of fruity notes I like and I hope you lovelies can help me!

 

Big YESes to: ORANGE! (especially blood orange), pomegranate, apple, pear, grape, berries, apricot/peach, fruity-florals, anything that can be described as "sparkly," vanillas & ambers

 

Big NOs to: PEONY, sweet pea, anything too dirty-sexy, anything too sharp or masculine, lemon, coconut

 

 

edited because I forgot some!

 

I think one scent that might just be up your alley is the '07 Yule Angeronalia (olive blossom, white nectarine, vibrant blood orange, honey absolute, lemongrass, elemi, sensual patchouli, and the quiet purity of gardenia). True, it was an LE, but I see it crop up on the swaps now and again, and it's a gorgeous blend -- the whole is definitely greater than the sum if its parts.

 

Eat Me is most certainly a blend you need to track down! If you love gourmand and berries/currants, this is the blend for you.

 

I know everyone is probably sick of me pimping this one, but Australian Copperhead is one of my all-time favorites, and you should try it now before it goes away forever so you have plenty of time to hoard . I don't do Snake Oil, but the acai berry really pops in this blend and makes the scent both fun and sexy at the same time.

 

Also seconding the suggestion for Lady Una -- it's rare I can handle a honey perfume, but the tea and blackberry here work with the honey musk and make for a gorgeous springtime blend.

 

Katharina is also a great springtime/daytime blend, and is GC to boot.

 

And finally, everyone (EVERYONE!) needs to try Snow White at least once.

My vote goes to snake charmer- sweetest vanilla throw ever. I LOVED Mouse's Long and Sad Tale until it turned on me No more vanilla, just sandalwood.

I think that vanilla might not age well or at least loses its sweetness. Anyone else encounter this?

 

The Antikythera mechanism one amped like spicy men's cologne on me somehow. I put it on my BF and it smelled like flowers

 

So I'm still searching for a good GC vanilla.

I generally don't find this to be the case at all! In fact, most of my vanillas have aged spectacularly, but that isn't to say that perhaps the interplay of notes in Mouse's Long and Sad Tale don't somehow overwhelm the vanilla as it ages (that's one of those blends that doesn't much agree with my chemistry).

 

Have you tried Stimulating Sassafrass Strengthener yet? The sassafrass burns off fairly quickly and leaves me with smelling of cream soda -- delicious!

I think there are two ways a currant can smell...the dried ones look and taste rich and sweet, and sort of like raisins to me, and that's what I find in All Souls, which I love.

 

But the fresh ones are more tart and juicy. For fans of the fresh currant scent, I second the Candy Phoenix suggestion and also highly recommend Lady Una.

Yes! Lady Una is gorgeous.

I would like to second two aforementioned blends: Morgause and Yvaine.

 

Both of these are scents I would put into the category of "floral," but they are not girly perfumes in the slightest. But are cool, razor-sharp, and ethereal -- they definitely put me into a certain mindset.

 

I was also looking for a strong vanilla note in my first order. Didn't quite find what I was looking for though. O, snake oil and the others are very spicy, as you may have noticed (which can be delicious, sometimes). Other than that Mouse's long and sad tale was perhaps the most vanilla-vanilla of those I tried (O, snake oil, lyonesse, Antique lace was the ones I tried).

 

I also want more berry-scents! Perhaps it's because of my lovely, most loveliest bordello-imp. Tell me what you thought of the others.

 

You can satisfy both your needs with one scent: Eat Me!

 

This is my favorite GC -- delicious, slightly boozy currant cakes. This is a sweet scent, and new imps do have a buttery note that I'm not too crazy about, but the butter fades quickly (and a little aging almost eliminates it).

 

Eat Me is definitely worth trying! I don’t get the cake or butter notes, but depending on my chemistry, I get a currants and cream, or Snake Oil, minus the amber.

 

Vanilla tends to vanish on me, so I really only get the berries, but Hollywood Babylon’s another berry-vanilla blend. (:

It's funny you mention that -- sometimes the comments I get from other who smell Eat Me are that it smells like sweet incense. Since I usually can't do resiny blends, this suits me just fine (though I often wonder how my skin does such crazy things ).

My berry scents, let me show you them!

 

 

Akuma: Bright and fizzy! This is a fun, light scent.

Australian Copperhead: Acai berry plus Snake Oil. Rich and complex, this is one of the scents I wear when I do want people to recognize I'm wearing perfume as opposed to just smelling good (not that "just smelling good" is at all a bad thing!)

Dionysia: If you can wear resins, this is a lovely dark incensy berry blend.

Eat Me: This is definitely foodie, but the currants are quite prominent. Delish.

Lady Una: Blackberry wine! The green tea plays counterpoint to the honey (musk) and blackberry -- it's a beautiful blend.

 

As far as LE's go, Blue fire is an amazing blueberry scent, and is pretty easy to find second-hand.

I am having fun with my first order of imp's ears, however; it has become clear to me that I need help in selecting the next bunch. I am pretty new at this and I made a couple of mistakes.

 

I tried "O" and while it smells great going on, the only thing that persists on me is the amber. I can't smell the vanilla at all, and I was hoping for a stronger vanilla note. I also got Dragon's Milk, which has turned into a very berry smell on me.

 

So now I am thinking of getting different vanilla scents, hoping that the vanilla in one of these will be more obvious: Tamora, Snake Oil, Hunger. I know that they all smell different on everyone and maybe my skin just absorbs vanilla or something, but any advice is welcome.

 

I also love coconut, and am getting The Star in my next order. Are there other coconut ones?

 

My other big decision is between two blackberry scents: Bewitched and Dragon's Heart. Suggestions?

 

Thanks for your help!

 

 

I was also looking for a strong vanilla note in my first order. Didn't quite find what I was looking for though. O, snake oil and the others are very spicy, as you may have noticed (which can be delicious, sometimes). Other than that Mouse's long and sad tale was perhaps the most vanilla-vanilla of those I tried (O, snake oil, lyonesse, Antique lace was the ones I tried).

 

I also want more berry-scents! Perhaps it's because of my lovely, most loveliest bordello-imp. Tell me what you thought of the others.

 

You can satisfy both your needs with one scent: Eat Me!

 

This is my favorite GC -- delicious, slightly boozy currant cakes. This is a sweet scent, and new imps do have a buttery note that I'm not too crazy about, but the butter fades quickly (and a little aging almost eliminates it).

First of all? Cinnabon musk made me roffle.

 

I recommend Mr. Jacquel and Blood Moon (the older one, from 2005 I think?), but both might be harder to find decants of. From the general catalogue, maybe Sin, Blood, Blood Amber, or even The Lion. Amber has a spicy kick sometimes that reminds me of cinnamon, especially in The Lion. And the lab's dragon's blood note has been described as slightly spicy but also floral to some people, so that one may vary.

 

Oh man, you're right! Blood Moon '05 would definitely fit into the musky cinnamon category, but it's not a sweet scent. If you don't mind the lack of sugariness, I think the old Blood Moon might be your best bet.

 

Barring that, I would also suggest Chimera as the closest match to the scent you seek.

It's funny that someone mentioned that Marianne was "raunchy," because I find her to be extremely ladylike.

 

It does have a Smut-like vibe to it (the red musk in both smells the same to me), but Smut is a 10-dollar streetwalker while Marianne is a royal courtesan. Sure they're both whores, but the latter knows which fork to use during the fish course.

Halp!

 

My costume this year is Jessica Rabbit, but I'm not sure what scent would be best for the character. I was thinking maybe Australian Copperhead (since I cannot do Snake Oil), but since Jessica is so very 40's, I wasn't sure what sort of perfume would evoke that era.

Three words for you:

 

NOM NOM NOM.

 

In the bottle: Rich, fattening, and utterly decadent orange pound cake. I feel it going to my hips just from smelling it.

 

Wet: The butter comes forth when this is first applied, but that note doesn't last long on my skin. Actually, the orange starts coming out more strongly as this dries down (unusual for me as orange notes usually fade quickly). This is definitely the cake note from Eat Me, but it's not as strong as in Eat Me thanks to the orange. The anise starts peeking out just a bit as this begins to dry, but it never takes over. It just sort of blends with the orange and makes the scent a bit more complex.

 

Dry: Ah, I do get a floral component to this! I don't do well with flowers, but now and again I get a whiff of something that might be a spicy floral -- carnation, maybe? -- but whatever it is, it's way in the background Again, the floral element just mixes with the cakes and making this scent multi-dimensional. During late drydown, mostly I just get cake and a hint of anise. This scent is much lighter than I expected (I get about a mile of sillage from Eat Me), and it also fades faster.

 

Verdict: I wish this lasted longer, though it does very well in my scent locket. This is definitely my favorite Halloweenie tested so far! Don't be afraid of the floral or anise components, this is a beautiful and fun scent that makes me want to start my fall baking!