ShadowEtienne

Doing a little bit of research because I've not been around it since ballroom dance during university years ago, it looks like the scent is something vanilla-cream soda adjacent, possibly with a bit of coconut from the coconut oil that is part of the base. Some GC candidates that seem like they could match (going off notes and what people I know who like vanilla have said, I am not a great vanilla source because it's a note I'm extremely not fond of, but these might at least give you a place to look): - O (Ars Amatoria): Amber and honey with a touch of vanilla - Tombstone (Wanderlust): A rugged, warm blend of vanilla, balsam and sassafras layered over Virginia cedar - Golden Priapus (Ars Amatoria): vanilla and amber with juniper, rosewood and white pine Not a GC, but available right now that could be a match: - Ghost Faced Bat: Sugared coconut meat, vanilla pods, condensed milk, white honey, and benzoin Hopefully someone who is more of a vanilla aficionado can help you out further!

Based on that profile, some General Catalog scents you may want to get imps (samples) of: - Rakshasa [Bewitching Brews]: Sandalwood with rose and patchouli. - Snooty Rose [Mad Tea Party]: Red rose, oud, plum, bergamot, and red sandalwood. - The Little Wooden Doll [Marchen]: rose-infused amber and soft golden sandalwood. None of these will be exact matches, but they may have similarities and match the vibes. They have the benefit of being regularly available and something that you could get in smaller quantities to see if you like them.

I am very much not familiar with this perfume, so my thoughts here are based on looking at the notes you so helpfully provided (thank you for that, I usually have to go looking for those to give helping people with these a shot). The very first thing that I want to point out is an LE scent that just dropped but seems to potentially fit the vibes: Equivalent No. 314 (An intangible vapor, an obfuscating mist: grey iris, ambergris, mallow blossom, white tea blossoms, and scorched milk.) It certainly won't smell the same, but it seems like something that might appeal based on the overlap. Another fairly recent release potentially worth looking into is Lorrainna (An early 19th-century Italian perfume dabbed on black satin and lace – magnolia blossoms, lilac, orris root, and ambergris accord) from the Skull Masquerade collection. Another fairly recent LE that might appeal is L'Homme Fut Solitaire Dans un Paysage de Nuit (Lilac-stained labdanum casting a long shadow across a flicker of frankincense smoke and ambergris accord.) A GC that shares some notes and might be worth checking out since you could start by getting an imp, but I suspect might have different vibes is Brusque Violet (Violet petal, violet leaf, osmanthus, orris, mint, and opoponax.) from the Mad Tea Party collection. It has enough overlapping notes, that I feel like I should also point out The Last Unicorn (Frosty lilac petals, iris pallida root, orris, violet leaf, white chocolate, coconut, wild lettuce, white sandalwood, white gardenia and oakmoss). This may run towards a sweeter or greener (depending on what you amp) scent type. I've focused here only on things that are currently available, and I don't know that there's anything among them that is a truly good match. You may end up needing to look into layering or searching for something that was a previous LE. Hopefully some of that is helpful!

Did you see The White Chocolate Rider from this year's Lupers/Box of Chocolates? I feel like it might fall into this niche, though I can't speak for it personally.

There's one other lilac I noticed in the new Lupers: Battledore and Shuttlecock Perfume Oil Calla lilies, green tea, peony milk, and blue lilac. This is likely going to be one of my blind bottles, granted for the other notes, but I'm hoping it's a lovely lilac as well.

I blind bottled this rather nervously, every note but vetiver in this is usually either incredibly good on my skin (cardamom, ambergris, cedar, pepper) or pleasantly neutral for me (sandalwood, orris). Vetiver however often does not smell the greatest on me, or just takes over a scent in ways I'm not looking for. But I loved the art, and cardamom + ambergris was too tempting not to get it. I opened the bottle to something smoky and woodsy, and I was a little bit nervous, but I could smell a hint of creamy spice underneath, and I was also hopeful. If it went right on my skin, and the notes balanced out, it would be really pretty. I tested it a few times before leaving this review, but it has indeed gone right. Sweet cardamom spice, a very similar cardamom note to my adored Sugared Cardamom Tea Beard Oil, is the most forward note on my skin, closely backed by smooth, creamy and just hinting at something aquatic ambergris and orris. The two notes blend beautifully, and I might think that it was just an ambergris going in a specific direction if this hadn't been how the orris + ambergris combo had gone for me before. This is all backed up by a softly smoky, hinting at spice woodsy scent, which I must assume is the rest of the notes working in excellent concert. The vetiver has just mellowed into the cedar and sandalwood and black pepper combo, adding a little bit of smokiness to them. My best possible vetiver outcome. Overall, for me, this scent could be a cousin to my much beloved The Hound and the Milk White Doe. I don't like this one as much (that would be hard), but it falls into the same family of scents in a wintery sort of way. I'm definitely glad I took the chance on this bottle!

In the General Catalogue (so you can get imps and see if you like them first), there are some really lovely lilac scents! It sort of depends on what other notes you might like with them. The one that immediately came to mind with this description was Les Fleurs du Mal (The scents of the blossoms of darkness, condensed into one perfume. Features a rose base, softened with lilac and wisteria). The three florals in it are really well balanced. You also might want to check out some of the scents in The Last Unicorn collection (Lady Amalthea, The Last Unicorn, The Lilac Wood), which are ongoing collections but not available as imps.

There's a place near where I live that has a rocky waterfront beach park. A ways along the beach from the entrance, there's a place where a little stream tumbles down the rocks from the greenery covered headlands above, and has a short stretch across the sand to the Sound. The beach smells of sand and salt fresh air and the briny green of freshly washed up kelp, but that particular spot where there is always good driftwood to sit on, also smells of fresh water infused with the green of having recently been among plants. This hair gloss smells like that spot in the cooler months. It's a lovely, fresh aquatic with elements of both fresh and salt water, as well as sand and greenery. It works really well in harmony with other aquatics as well as with citrus notes.

The lemon blossom is a smooth, creamy, citrusy white floral. It's lovely and bright without seeming to be harsh or acidic. There's a little zing to the scent that does make me think of lemon zest as well though, but having been around blooming lemon trees, they can kind of smell like that, especially if some of the blossoms have been freshly crushed. This is a beautiful, fresh scent for a HG, and I can use a lot of it when my hair is being difficult without the scent becoming overwhelming. It's become one of my most reached for HGs.

The blood orange is bright and fresh, almost the scent of a blood orange being peeled or sliced. There's a lot of the oils of the zest, a little bit of sweet, tart juice, and a bit of pith balancing out the sweetness. The champagne note brings something bright and sparkling and floaty to this scent. While there's a little bit of sweetness, it balances more towards the sour and tart, for which I am pleased. It's a very fresh scent that I'm enjoying quite a bit. It's definitely in a family with Champagne and Delirium.

I picked up In Templum Dei because I was chasing some of the notes from The Hound and the Milk White Doe, most specifically Liquidambar which doesn't appear in many of BPAL's scents and I love. The overlapping notes are labdanum, sandalwood, and liquidambar, and like in my beloved The Hound and the Milk White Doe, the liquidambar takes the lead with a lovely spiced wood resinous element that the other two notes really support. The frankincense is very harmonious with it, also resinous with a hint of spice. This scent by itself is a little bit flat on me, but I think that it's going to make for a really nice layering base. Going to try to find some creamy florals to add more dimension to it and bring it more in line with what I love best about The Hound and the Milk White Doe in things that are more readily available to me.

This really beautifully captures hot spiced cider on me, but I wouldn't necessarily guess the alcohol elements if they weren't in the notes list. It's honestly more in line with the the hot spiced non-alcoholic cider that I get in the Pike Place Market in colder months. There's something very bright and fresh to the apple beside the warming spices. The ginger is definitely prominent here, but it's the earthier ginger of older ginger roots, and it blends really well with the more subtle cinnamon, clove, and allspice (the cinnamon and clove really do behave on my skin, and they can definitely be loud notes sometimes). The orange slices are a barely there hint of zest, but they're a really lovely element that rounds out the scent. The sweet woodiness of the oud (with just a hint of pleasant sourness) really ties everything together. Overall, apple and ginger are definitely the stars of this, which is exactly what I would have hoped for. I'm really glad I was able to get myself a bottle.

In GC, two scents that I like that have clove (and I find it noticeable) are Wrath (dragon’s blood spiked with black pepper, clove, and cinnamon) and Arachne of Lydia (dusty clove and blackcurrant). Clove is in general a note that I don't actively seek out, but I quite like in the right blends. Unlike others above, I don't find Arachne of Lydia to be a single note clove, but the clove is a lovely element of the scent. It's balanced out by a rich dark sweetness that is completely not a cloying sweetness from the black currant for me. Arachne of Lydia has a more dusty/drying clove note for me, in a quite lovely way. Wrath is a much brighter/sweeter clove (my general assessment of this one was a lovely bright spiced simple syrup full of warming spices, but again, somehow not cloying).

I have a couple of little bags in a box of the old caps uncleaned (so clearly I haven't really figured out what to do with them either), but they are an interesting combination of my scent profile/tastes over time. I'd say the first of the two little ziplock bags is a lot more discordant than the second when I on occasion open them to see what they smell like. I am kind of curious how cleanable they are, but I also kind of enjoy my chaos bags of original caps.

@Jarek BPAL'S Beard Oil formulation is fantastic (at least for my skin and beard). It properly saturates my rather thick beard without making it greasy, and it smells nice and has scents other than face planted into trees (which has its place but is often too strong and not what I'm going for). For the most part, I've found the Beard Oil to be slightly more mildly scented than its perfume counterpart which I appreciate with it being right on my face. Good luck with the finding of the harder to find perfumes!