ShadowEtienne

Welcome to BPAL! Dee is such a lovely starting place (potentially of interest, it also comes in a beard oil, which is actually the main way I use Dee). Our preference notes don't fully overlap, but I've browsed through the GC for some things that seem like they might be up your alley. - Vicomte de Valmont [Ars Amatoria] (ambergris, white musk, white sandalwood, Spanish Moss, orange blossom, three mints, jasmine, rose geranium and a spike of rosemary) - Thanatopsis [Ars Moriendi] (pine, juniper and musk) - Black Forest [Bewitching Brews] (Thick, viscous pine with ambergris, black musk, juniper and cypress) - Highwayman [Bewitching Brews] (Vetiver with gardenia, blood red rose, night-blooming jasmine, a dash of cinnamon and a faint hint of leather) - Incantation [Bewitching Brews] (vetiver, dark woods, crumbling and burnt black sandalwood and a drop of lemon rind) - The Harlot's House [Bewitching Brews] (angel's trumpet, violet, white sandalwood, oude, copaiba balsam, angelica, white tea, olibanum, and oakmoss) This is one that I quite like personally! If you like something a little licorice/anise leaning, that is what the angelica note adds for me - Voodoo [Bewitching Brews] (myrrh, patchouli, vetiver, lime, vanilla, pine, almond and clove) - Yggdrasil [Bewitching Brews] (The World Ash. Nine woods, nine leaves, and three herbs each for Ratatosk and Vidofnir, with three final herbs to placate Nidhogg.) Another one on here I like personally, this is so woody and foresty! - A Countenance Foreboding Evil [Diabolus] (Patchouli, ylang ylang, blood orange, and vetiver) - Loup Garou [Diabolus] (juniper, cypress and galangal with the barest touch of eucalyptus.) Another one I really like personally, woody and fresh and a little sharp in a good way - Anteros [Excolo] (throbbing red musk and shimmering chypre with saffron, sweet patchouli, Italian bergamot, red currant, and vanilla bean) - Coyote [Excolo] (The warmth of doeskin, dry plains grasses and soft, dusty woods warmed by amber and a downy, gentle coat of deep musk) - Oberon [Illyria] (Orchid, white musk, and bergamot wafting over juniper berries, with a gentle touch of soft, earthy patchouli) - Bram Stoker [Inspiration] (Bourbon vetiver with opoponax, Italian bergamot, and hay absolute.) - The Caterpillar [Mad Tea Party] (carnation, jasmine, bergamot, and neroli over a lush bed of dark mosses, iris blossom, deep patchouli and indolent vetiver.) - Jabberwocky [Mad Tea Party] (pine, eucalyptus and orange) - Old Demons of the First Class [Marchen] (Siberian musk, black clove, opoponax, tonka, black pepper, and neroli.) - Azathoth [A Picnic in Arkham] (tangerine, saffron, vetiver, black amber and cedarwood.) This is one I personally like (unusual because vetiver is more miss than hit for me), and the first thing that came to mind looking at your notes! - Lizardfolk Park Ranger [RPG] (The scent of ancient trees, vast shadowed canyons, rocky snow-tipped peaks, and rushing rivers, with notes of pine needle, oak bark, sweet birch, stream-polished stones, lichen, dark mosses, nootka, hazelnut, rivulets of amber, and blackcurrant bud) - Druid [RPG] (ancient trees, fertile soil, wild herbs, spring grasses, and burgundy pitch incense.) I quite like this one, it reminds me of gardening - Ranger [RPG] (Untamed wilderness: buckskin accord with Terebinth pine, Russian birch, black ironwood, elder bark, hay, armoise, juniper, patchouli, galangal root, Spanish moss, and cabreuva) - Oblivion [Sin and Salvation] (Dark musk, wood spice, labdanum, patchouli, dark African woods, and saffron) I'm sure there are plenty that I missed that might appeal, but hopefully some of these help you narrow down some imps to get! Enjoy your BPAL journey!

Since no one has lept out with recommendations for you yet, I'm going to go through the general catalogue scents and see if I can find some good options to consider. I've never smelled the original scent, so I'm going off the general vibes you have described and notes listed. These are things that are in the same general family to maybe investigate. The nice thing with GC is that there are imps (small sample vials) to try out rather than the commitment to a whole bottle. - Sin [Sin and Salvation]: amber, sandalwood, black patchouli and cinnamon. - Wrath [Sin and Salvation - The Seven Deadly Sins]: dragon’s blood spiked with black pepper, clove, and cinnamon. - Morocco [Wanderlust]: Arabian spices wind through a blend of warm musk, carnation, red sandalwood and cassia. - Tombstone [Wanderlust]: A rugged, warm blend of vanilla, balsam and sassafras layered over Virginia cedar. Obviously none of these are the same, but they all have some elements of that resinous-woodsy-spicy thing (with some other shared notes) going on. Depending on if you know how she feels about florals/fruits as part of perfumes, I might have some to add to this.

Two Women on Veranda Overlooking the Sea might be worth investigating if you can find it. It was one of the painting of the month scents last year or the year before. Here's the review page: https://www.bpal.org/topic/99867-two-women-on-veranda-overlooking-the-sea/

I have experienced a minor tragedy with this beard oil, it smells lovely in the bottle, just as I would expect from the description. These are often winning notes on me! I expected it would go well. It doesn't smell bad on me just disappointing. It goes from a lovely rich brewed chai in the bottle, to a sad bag of grocery store chai given too much air and dried out on my skin and beard. The tea goes entirely overly astringent, dusty darjeeling. The spices go dusty and dry. The cardamom and ginger (notes that usually love me) disappear entirely. There's a tiny hint of a powdery creaminess, almost like powdered milk, and all the sweetness vanishes. My skin has betrayed me on this one, and I will pass it along to someone it works better for. I tested it a few times in hope that it was a fluke, but sadly the same thing has happened each time. If it smells true to the bottle on you, this one will be lovely.

I love cardamom so much, along with tea, that I had to try this despite my usual concern over foody notes like cream and sugar. I think this will be joining my rotation of favorite beard oils though, so I'm glad I took the risk! Other than a concerning moment right upon application where all I got was a waft of intense sweetness for a moment, this settled into something beautiful cardamom and tea forward on my skin. The cardamom has an almost tangy rich warmth too it, and the tea is a rich malty black tea. The hint of creamy sweetness in the back just rounds and mellows the scent, without really being a main note.

On me, lily is far and away the predominant note in this. Not a surprise, lily amps on me. This is a really interesting greenish-white lily though, very fresh and not quite opened. There's not much in the way of other floral notes in here other than sort of a quiet slightly dusty backing white floral. I think that the other flowers have dried out and are just giving a hint of aroma while the lily is strong and fresh. There is however, the fresh bright greenery of the flowers, possibly from the wildflowers. It adds to the greenness of the lily and makes this a fresher, brighter scent. Underneath the floral-greenery part of the scent is a hint of incense-resin and a bright sharp note that really does bring to mind Silver. I'm sometimes iffy on metallic scents, but it works here. Overall, I like this, even though I didn't know if I was interested enough to pick it up at first.

I've only ever gotten to try Glasgow from a small sample amount at the end of an old imp, but recent LE (still up for a few more days as part of Halloweenies) Witches' Tea evokes most of the same note profile to me.

I purchased a bottle of this from a lovely forumite, and I was pretty confident it would work well for me from the notes. It reminds me all at once of the original Tiger Lily, 2023 Lupercalia's Silk Tiger Lily, and Morgause. (All of those are favorites, this is a good thing.) Lily in general amps on me, which I certainly don't mind since it love it. This is a big juicy, sweet, spicy lily blooming in a sun warmed field, backed up closely by a rich earthy spicy ginger that balances it while emphasizing the natural spicy touch of the lily. The next most prominent note on me is juicy, almost syrupy plum, one of the ones that is so dark of purple it verges on black. Frankincense is only barely present on my skin as a hint of something resinously warm and spicy in the background, and neroli isn't showing up at all. I'm very glad to have a bottle of this, but I also have other scents that I like for many of the same reasons that are easier to get a hold of.

This is a beautiful late winter/start of spring floral. On my skin, it is mainly peonies and cherry blossoms, airy and beautiful. The snow note that wraps around them reminds me of Talvikuu's snow. It is fresh and sort of floral and promises spring soon in its wetness. The plum juice is there as a soft undercurrent, bringing a fruitiness to the florals, but staying well behaved and a backing note. The rose petals are a barely there whisper helping to emphasize the florals. Despite not sharing any named notes, this has a similar overall scent profile to Prague, which is one of my favorite GCs.

Fresh, tart lychee is the predominant note in this on me. That beautiful lychee note rests on top of a lovely herbal-floral bed that really balances it and keeps it from being too simple. Angelica (with its sort of herbal licoricy element) and peonies are the more distinct herbal-floral note, but there's a whisper of Ylang Ylang behind them, and the hint of tart rosehip helps merge the herbal notes to the lychee. Not getting any of the pink peppercorn, but I wouldn't be surprised if its presence is helping to hold back the scent from getting too sweet. Overall this is lovely and tart lychee with a complex herbal-floral base, and I'm glad that I got a share of a bottle!

Ooh, some interesting ones! Thank you for taking a stab at this, I appreciate the thought that went into it, and it was interesting to look at the descriptions. - Cascading Silks unfortunately has lavender which I am major respiratory levels of distress allergic to - Cock Stamen I will have to see if a friend who's been into BPAL longer than me has around to sniff, I'm dubious of cacao, but everything else sounds amazing - Argento Sunrise, unfortunately has a musk, and I've had very bad luck with anything the lab labels as having musk giving me a nasty skin reaction - L'Agonie unfortunately has a hard no note of vanilla for me (and chamomile which usually makes me sneeze, but I'd still at least sniff something that was chamomile). The overall scent profile sounds up my alley - Last Tavern at the Town Gate, oh no musk again, otherwise sounds interesting, but I've learned not to test my skin that way - Worm Moon 2021 is unfortunately part of how I learned about the musk skin reaction (sampled from a friend), but you're right on the nose in that it smells amazing to me - The Gilman House Hote, ooh I am intrigued! Which of course means it will be impossible to find. I'm very interested in the Miskatonic Valley/Springtime in Arkham/Picnic in Arkham scents in general, and it's a place I'm often willing to try things a little out of my comfort zone. - Stargazing at Sea, if it wasn't for the musk, this sounds right up my alley. I love moonflower. And this is why I maybe should have included my hard no notes, you definitely had the scent profile in the right direction, but my skin and respiratory system are not kind to me.

Lily notes tend to amp on me (fortunately I love them), and this is no exception! The red spider lily note is a creamy, sweet, spicy, juicy lily that really speaks to my favorite sort of lily notes. This is the leading note of the scent from the moment my skin gets involved. In roughly equal prominence behind the beautiful lily note are a tangy, juicy plum, currently being sliced and dripping juices, along with a bright, sharp, resinous dragon's blood. They balance out the different elements of the lily well. The cypress and immortelle (and maybe the amber, but I'm not really finding the amber of its own accord) are faint and quiet in the background, but they create an ambiance of an evergreen forest with a stream and flowers blooming along its banks. I love the balance of this on my skin, and it really blooms from the scent in the bottle.

I collect the Lunar New Year scents, so I got 2 bottles of this right off the bat, and I may end up ordering an extra before it goes away if the timing lines up right. Like all of the LNY scents, Wooden Dragon evokes the decorative red lacquer dishes of dried and candied fruits that my foster family would put out for LNY. This year, the lychee definitely leads the fruit on my skin, bright and sweet and tart. The bright, tart citrus and crisp watery quince back it up, and I can especially pick out tangerine from the citrus. The warm, resinous notes of the dragon's blood especially evokes for me those red lacquer dishes. It's almost what they looked like they should smell like, and combined with the pine resin, it also reminds me of freshly cleaned house with a tiny waft of incense. The florals are very present and airy, like their are cut bouquets of peony scattered around the room, and from open windows drift rich wafts of plum and peach blossoms. It's a beautifully balanced LNY scent, a bit more floral toward than fruit forward, and I really love how distinct the dragon's blood is this year.

This was my immediate must have of all the Lupers this year. I love ginseng and ginger, and the rest of the notes all seemed to be things that would work well. The ginger and ginseng definitely take the lead on this scent! It's an herbal, tangy, aromatic ginseng that very much smells like ginseng tea. The ginger is bright and fresh and tart as well. There's a hint of something peppery (probably the cubeb), and there are bitter herbal undertones that I couldn't name as a specific herb but really round out and ground the scent. This is a good sort of bitter. All together, it smells very much like going into Chinese herbal and tea shops with my foster family growing up. It's a soothing scent, one that evokes good memories for me, but I can definitely see it as being a divisive one. I'm definitely thrilled with my bottle!

There is definitely some skin chemistry magic happening here. In the bottle and when very first applied, like those above me, this scent was predominantly a rich, fruity red wine. Interesting and pleasant, but not necessarily something I'd reach for often. Then my skin happened to it, and other notes rose to prominence. Ylang Ylang blooms fresh and bright and tropical, blending with a herbal-spicy-aquatic ambergris with a hint of oakmoss combo. This is less creamy than some ambergris on my skin, but still lovely! The Spanish mandarin is being peeled right nearby, and behind its sweet tartness is a gentle backing note of that same rich fruity red wine, still a beautiful note, but very much in the backdrop. This is not at all what I was expecting sniffing it in the bottle, but it is delightful.

This scent is much gentler than I would have expected from something called Implacable Beautiful Tyrant. I never experienced the original hair gloss, so I can say nothing to the comparison, but i am enjoying this scent for itself! I do get all the listed notes, or at least implications of them, even if it wasn't quite what I would have expected. The base of this on my skin is mostly frankincense, but the gentlest frankincense I've ever encountered! It's a softly creamy, resinous, spicy layer. It's warmed by soft amber that adds to the gentle resinous creaminess. There is just a hint of slightly sour wood from the oudh that adds a layer of interesting contrast. The white ginger sits on top of this creamy resinous base as a bright, sweet, zing of fresh white ginger. It's much more delicate than some gingers, almost slightly floral, but it is bright and harmonious with the spiciness of the frankincense. Frankincense and ginger continues to be a winning combination on my skin, even if not in the way precisely I would have expected from this name and description.

This starts with rich warm wood notes from the teak and cypress. They are distinct but blend well. I suspect that the amber oud is adding to the warm woodiness, but I'm not getting distinct notes of that. Behind it is a fresh, almost watery green that brightens it from the bamboo and ti leaf. The crystalized ginger is a wonderful spicy tang of ginger that is the star of the scent dancing on top, and it is the main waft of the scent once on my hair. This is only my second hair gloss, but it will definitely fill a niche with matching many of my scents. Ginger is a prominent note among my scents, and this seems to be coherent with a lot of the other ginger notes, especially since it's somewhere between the earthier and brighter gingers.

Ooh interesting! The Sea Foams Blood is one that I've never tried, but I may have to look into. Tweedledee and Baobhan Sith are lovely and I have imps of, Tweedledee may at some point get upgraded to a bottle. Snooty Rose is also lovely but more my sister's scent than mine. Leanan Sidhe, I expected to like, but on my skin it smells almost exactly like how cilantro tastes to me, and it is baffling. The Froth of the Serpents of Pleasure is currently on its way to me, and I'm very hopeful for it! I'll have to keep an eye out for Right Atrium though because that does sound lovely! (And you are on the nose with me loving all the citrus three notes.) Sea Foams Blood is definitely one for me to aim to get a chance to try though. I think I've been antsy about it in the past because I wasnt sure what the blood note was going to be like.

I'm intrigued enough to try this. I feel like I'm pretty good at figuring out what I will like, but maybe someone will point out something to me that I wouldn't have thought of: 1. Lunar New Year Scents (Water Snake is probably my most favorite, only partially because Snake is my year) 2. Cthulhu (both in perfume oil and beard oil form) 3. Night-Gaunt 4. Aizen-Myoo 5. The Hound and the Milk White Doe Trying to make a list of five is hard! I kept adding things and replacing them and feeling like I was leaving things out. (I have a whole list of hard-no notes, either due to allergies or just strongly disliking a note, but I figure I will leave them off for now and see what happens)

I was going to come in here and recommend Dee, which while it's isn't one of my favorites seemed to fit the bill of what you were asking. I'm fascinated to see it described as sweet or vanilla, because while I've got more impression of it as a beard oil than as a perfume oil, it mostly gives me rosewood, incense, and something a touch spicy and tannic. This might just be a skin chemistry thing, but if some of it is readily available for you to test, it might be worth revisiting. Otherwise, I wonder if some of the Picnic in Arkham scents might be an interesting possibility. I think of this partially because Cthulhu is my favorite beard oil (and one of my favorite perfumes), and I feel like anything that ends up in the beard oil category might be a possibility. The others in Picnic in Arkham that I could maybe see being worth a thought: Azathoth, Nyarlathotep, R'lyeh, and Y'ha-nthlei. I'm not sure this will be the right vibes, but they seemed worth putting into the ideas being tossed around. Also just in general looking over some of the beard oils and seeing if they give you ideas to reference back into perfume oils.

Just juiced and zested limes, just zested blood orange, currently in the process of being juiced. The blood orange fresh juiciness is the strongest note, but the fresh tart lime is also very present, and the zest and oil notes of both fruits are amplifying and complementing the juice notes. Ylang Ylang is the quietest note here, but it is a beautiful and identifiable floral note wafting over the citrus and blending nicely with them. Well balanced citrus forward three note, and I'm definitely distinctly getting all three notes.

When it first touches my skin, I get a wave of too sweet for me syrupy pomegranate that reminds me of homemade grenadine. Fortunately, it settles down pretty quickly and the over sweetness backs off. I'm left with fresh pomegranate juice, just cut into wild plums, and a delicate, airy pan roasted green tea that balance into a fresh, tart, juicy, and light scent that is really lovely. Very true to the notes and not too complicated, but that is excellent!

I love Delirium, and champagne has been a solid note for me, so I was very excited about this scent! On me, the apples are the star of the show in Delirium, and they are not too sweet, perfectly ripe pink skinned apples, probably pink ladies. That crisp fresh wonderful apple note is still here in Champagne and Delerium, but the champagne note twined with the lemon peel rises to equal it in prominence. The champagne is light and fizzy and bright, and the lemon is the bright fresh smell of the oils released from the zest. Roses are a soft airy background note of lightly crushed petals that helps create a beautiful balance. I like this just as much as Delirium, but I appreciate the way that it is decidedly different. This is Delirium at a fancy cocktail party, and it's a really fitting New Year's scent. I think that it will be delightful year round though because it's bright and fresh.

I ended up with this bottle in a small mix up, but figured it smelled nice enough in the bottle that I would test it before passing it along to my sister, who loves rose scents. I do tend to like the balance of BPAL's chypres, and on my skin, this is a tart, bright rose, fresh and a little herbal. It's lovely, and I entirely see the appeal, but rose doesn't tend to be something I reach for as a dominant note. I think for the rest of the day, I will go reach for something to layer into it, and I will indeed be passing the bottle along to my sister as intended.

On wet, this was all wild plum and white mint. It was a good start, but not the level of complexity I'd hoped for. As it settled in, the cassis and red currant unfolded, wonderfully tart and juicy, rounding out the fruity elements of the wild plum. The green tea, peppermint, and neroli are soft in this, and take a little while to show up to the party, but they mesh really well with the white mint, balancing it out, and giving it floral and herbal depth. Altogether, they lend a certain airiness to the scent that I love. I like all the stages of this so far, but I'm really most pleased with the balance that it's settling into: tart and fruity and minty with tea and floral, and nothing too sweet. I'm really glad that I landed a bottle of this off the lab's eBay.