ivyandpeony

International orders do take a little more time, but if you're checking the CnS thread and seeing that the Lab's moved beyond your order date, then you shouldn't feel like you're bothering the Lab by e-mailing customer service. =) A lot of international folks do seem to receive CnS notices or some sort of notification. Be sure to check your spam folder carefully before deleting everything, I have heard lots of people say they've discovered them in spam (they come from the USPS, not from the Lab).

And there are some glitches with the CnS system. A friend of mine - another mod, who's ordered from the Lab for 4+ years - said she stopped getting CnS e-mails at some point recently. Her orders just started showing up without them and she can't figure out why. They aren't going into her spam folder. It seems to happen to other people, too. Hopefully yours will start showing up the way they are supposed to, though.

...Oh, and for those of you who have tried White Phoenix (my ultimate favorite!), I was wondering if there was a warmer/sexier version of it. The notes in White Phoenix managed to work wonders with my skin chemistry (that seems really out of whack often).

I am really fond of White Phoenix too. When I saw your question, at first I was thinking that there probably isn't anything that's even very similar - it's a unique combination of notes (they are frangipani, magnolia, cotton flower, osmanthus, crystal musk, ambrette, white orchid, sugar cane, davana, white sandalwood, petitgrain, lavender, and lotus root). But I did a little poking around w/ the search engines and it got me thinking of a few things that you might want to try. I didn't run to my BPAL box to sniff and compare, and of course your skin is the ultimate judge!

Dark Delicacies, the original exclusive blend the Lab did for the DD store, has some of those heady tropical flowers with a sweet base like White Phoenix, but it's much darker and smokier. (the notes are devil's trumpet accord, black orchid, tonka, coconut meat, fruit gums, osmanthus, smoky resin, myrtle, and Indonesian patchouli.)

Eshe, from CD, is another blend that I get a lot of heady white flowers from at first but over something darker and sexier than White Phoenix (embalming herbs, black myrrh, white sandalwood, black orchid, paperwhites, tomb dust, and Moroccan jasmine).

Hetairae is my newest sexy comforting love: golden honey, fiery patchouli, sweet fig and clove, and a blushing touch of ylang ylang.

 

It is so creamy, sexy, deep honey with a bit of spice and floral. Where has she been all my life? Lasts all night but wears close to the skin. Slather, slather!!!!

My love for Hetairae knows no bounds! And I agree, it is one of the sexiest scents in the whole catalog. Although I can't slather it, it seems to have a ton of notes that I amp.

...

 

Does anyone have any idea what I ought to be avoiding? I thought I knew what to look for, but then Bensiabel blindsided me.

It might be that you're reacting to more than one ingredient, i.e., the list doesn't necessarily have one note in common - but most of the ones that I am familiar with do have some sort of spiciness, even if the description just lists "spices" without naming exactly what's in there. Queen of Sheba and Silk Road don't list the spices they contain but both are spicy blends to my nose.

I've reacted to blends with cardamom before, and that is listed as a component of both The Phantom Calliope & Bezoar, for example; there's pink pepper in Hermia, and cassia in The Dodo.

Inferno and Saw Scaled Viper are notorious skin burners - they both have cinnamon, and SSV also has cassia. Anyone who has a hint of sensitive skin should avoid those two, I speak from experience! =)

(I haven't tried Bensiabel or Libertarian, although from Bensiabel's description, it doesn't seem like it would be spicy or burny - and Urd has me stumped too, it didn't smell spicy to me. Reviews are suggesting there's clove &/or ginger in Libertarian, which would bolster the spice theory, but only the Lab could tell you for sure.)

Anyway, other than those few really odd ones, it sounds like you could be reacting to a variety of spices. I'm sure that if you have specific questions about components, the Lab can help you as long as you are patient about getting answers during the busy holiday season. In the meantime, I'd be careful about pepper notes, cardamom and cassia in addition to cinnamon. Maybe check reviews before ordering and commit to an imp or decant first before splurging on bottles if something sounds iffy. Those old standby tricks - being sure to moisturize to give your skin a bit of a barrier and also allowing ample time after a shower or bath before applying perfume - really help me. I've had my share of spice-induced itches and welts, though, so I know how frustrating it is!

Good luck - I've had my share of spice-induced welts and itches and it is frustrating!

I haven't tried that particular conditioner, rymorg2, but I am going to be looking for it next time I'm at Whole Foods - honeysuckle rose sounds wonderful.

There are only a few blends that contain both honeysuckle and rose - first up, the only one that's currently available from the Lab is Schlafende Bagneuse, from the Salon. The notes are skin musk, white cream, honeycomb, yellow rose, King mandarin, chrysanthemum, golden amber, honeysuckle, and wide-throated yellow monkey-flower accord. It's a gorgeous blend, but I have no idea how much it might resemble your conditioner =)

Her Voice, an LE from early 2008 (Lupercalia update), has hyacinth, beeswax, wild roses, vanilla amber, lily of the valley, tiger lily, honeysuckle, carnation, and heliotrope. Bearded Lady, an older LE from 2005/2006, is getting hard to find - the notes in it are Turkish rose, stargazer lily, violet, honeysuckle, amber, star jasmine and vanilla.

I was surprised that so few blends combine these two notes, but then again, both can be very assertive notes - BPAL honeysuckle seems to be a cousin of jasmine. Maybe some of the jasmine/rose blends might be fun to try to see if they are up your alley too.

I tried Versailles on myself today and although its very very nice, its missing the sandalwood/resins that it needs to ground it. A little to light and I wouldnt consider it a traditional "Floriental".

 

That being said, I've changed my recommendation. What you might want to try is Wilhelmina Murray which is sadly hard to find.

 

[edit: OR layer it with another scent that has a sandalwood/myrrh/patchouli combination to darken it up.]

This is a little bit of a "BPAL similarites" kind of post... but I find Versailles, Moscow and Three Brides (from the Salon) to be cousins, maybe because they all share a combo of various rose, amber and citrus notes that Beth takes in different directions. Of the trio, Three Brides most resembles a traditional perfume and might be worth trying to see if it matches up with those old school favorites. I am not familiar w/ Xia Xhang but vaguely remember Emeraude from my childhood, and recall it as a dressy, "formal" perfume, and I'd definitely characterize Three Brides that way.

For comparison, the notes:

Versailles: Gilded red and gold citrus with amber, ruby roses, jasmine and orris.

Moscow: Imperial rose, carnation, lush jasmine, lily of the valley, dark musk, amber, bergamot and gilded tangerine.

Three Brides: Moroccan rose, king mandarin, red sandalwood, Egyptian amber, orchid, carnation, benzoin, tonka, calla lily, vanilla flower.

Ms. Rodgers did the art for the Graveyard Book labels, dontchaknow. We friggin' LOVE them! =D

I thought I picked up her vibe, based on the illustration on the Graveyard Book page and the awesome Sleepy Hollow labels! Outstanding job, Jennifer

I agree with oakmoss - as much as I like Dave McKean, the GB illustrations didn't click with me the way Jennifer's artwork does.

The only thing on your list that I know for sure is in Snake Oil is patchouli - but for Midnight Mass, I would bet on frankincense.

fiddledragon: is Namaste a GC?

 

(I've added that under Concentration to the original post -- thanks!)

You can find Namaste in Bewitching Brews.

Perversion is a good one, icing! Tonka can be very vanilla-y depending on the variety, the other stuff in the blend and your skin chemistry. So that might be another note you'll want to explore, crebbsgirl. I am surprised that there is not a tonka thread in Recs - so it's a topic that is ripe for starting and discussing around here.

... BL on me is all dirty smutty, vanilla. I think it's a combination of the boozy cognac and tobacco and musk that makes it quite so awesome. Does anyone have any recommendations for dirty vanilla-y scents? ...

You know, I find Snake Charmer to be a kind of musky, smutty vanilla scent. On me, the vanilla is pretty well balanced with the resins and the musk, and then there's a little bit of fruit from the plum - but you definitely smell the vanilla.

Huesos de Santo smells soooo good for an hour, till the orange cake fades enough to let the anise through.

 

Then about four hours in I like it again after the anise leaves.

 

...

I had the same problem with Huesos de Santos - and I just don't care for anise in my perfume. The closest thing I have tried so far is Cheshire Moon (which of course, is an LE from earlier this year - but it does turn up in swaps every now and then). Cheshire Moon is a delicious citrus cake on me.

Of the ones that have been suggested, Alicia, Masquerade and Voodoo would definitely be on my list! Urd smells incredibly head-shoppy in the bottle, but my skin turned it into a super-purple, grape Bubble Yum single note.

The Caterpillar is my headshop scent. I have heard of men wearing it, although the behavior of the jasmine would be the critical factor. On my skin, the mosses and vetiver really balance out the feminine elements (it is the ONE scent with vetiver that I can wear!)

Anne Bonny was surprisingly masculine on me, so I definitely consider it appropriate for men and women, and it has a nice dose of patchouli.

There's something a little head-shoppy about The Illustrated Woman to me. The one that was in my old neighborhood would sometimes burn the piney incense that comes with a little log cabin incense burner, so maybe it's that slight piney-ness that invokes it for me. I don't know if you were planning to give a bottle or imps, though.

And of all the incense scents, Sri Lanka has the hippie-est, head-shoppiest vibe to me. So that might be a possibility, too.

Bumping this thread because I wore Jacob's Ladder all weekend - amber lovers who don't have it in their possession need to go order bottles. Right now! I'll wait for you...

I'm still working on my original bottle which is the 2005 version, although I only have about an imp left in it. It has aged (and aged well) but it's not dramatically different from what it was originally, just richer. I have another bottle of 2005 waiting for me, but I definitely am going to grab a new one while the Yules are around so I know I will have more in the stash for when that's gone.

We've talked about Jacob's Ladder being similar to The Lion in the LE-GC comparison thread so I thought I'd do a side-to-side sniff test and report. They are very similar (my bottle of The Lion is pretty aged too, it's an old cobalt one). I find Jacob's Ladder to be more complex, maybe because of the multiple resins, and it has more throw and staying power. I love both of them though.

....

Out of curiosity, ivyandpeony, does red musk smell "sweet" on your skin? I find Snake Oil and any blends with red musk to be extremely sweet and heavy, to the point of being cloying.

It does smell sweet on me. I even have an imp of the SN red musk and I think it has a sweet quality. So I can definitely see how anyone who really amps sweet might find it overwhelming.

Even though I don't amp sweet in general, I amp caramel so much that it will drown out every other note in the bottle and more often than not, I morph the caramel to an icky burnt sugar.

It's funny how we all have notes that we think we can't wear though - leather's one of mine, tonka sounds like one of yours - and every now and then a blend comes along that makes it work. (Spanked and Trick #1 are my leather blends Of course, mine just had to be super-rare and hard to find, but they WORK!) A lot of people who can't wear or just don't like Snake Oil have found something they love in the Snake Pit, which I think is really fun too.

I wish Western Diamondback had worked on me! I love the name and the list of notes made it sound like it would be delicious. But for my skin, the leather was going to be the decider and it decided "no." People really do love it - Western Diamondback and Boomslang both made the top LE list that was just compiled in BPAL Chatter. I've mentioned this before so people who have read lots of my posts will find it repetitive, but my chemistry seems to lack anything that will amp sweetness, so if a blend doesn't have any sweet elements at all, it will often be really dry and unbalanced on me. Western Diamondback sadly turned dusty, pungent and leathery with nothing to offset or round it on my skin.

I have smelled it on others and it's fabulous! I know I have hundreds of other scents that work on me - literally - so it is silly to be disappointed when one doesn't, but I do wish that this one did.

Of all the Pit, I think Boomslang resembles Snake Oil the most - at least, comparing the final results of each of those on my skin. Some of them surprised me at how different they are from Snake Oil, like Banded Sea Snake and Cottonmouth, which seem like really distant cousins to me.

Temple Viper and King Cobra have both aged really nicely. I think my Snake Pit bottles are about 18 months old now. The big winners for me were Boomslang, Cottonmouth, Banded Sea Snake, Temple Viper, King Cobra and Saw Scaled Viper (although that one had to be diluted to go on my sizzling tender skin).

Those aren't necessarily the ones that I had predicted were going to be my true loves. So I think anyone who's waffling or wondering should get on the hunt for some decants and try these slithery delights so they can update their shopping lists. We've been lucky that the Carnival's stuck around so long but when we do get that final date when it's coming down, there will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth!

One of my all time favorites is Glitter, the original version. It's lemon and heliotrope with a kick of musk, and dries down to a warm muskiness But it's hard to find. A couple years ago, suggestions were made - Feu Follet (tried it, don't think I liked it?) and Fae, which I think is kind of, um, pale?

 

Any suggestions for a replacement?

I don't have a perfect answer - but I think the description of Fae as a pale cousin of Glitter is spot on.

Heliotrope is a weird note for me, so many scents with it haven't worked on my skin, Glitter and Fae included, but I think maybe exploring some heliotrope scents might get you headed in the right direction. Have you tried Lolita? I'm thinking the verbena might give you some of the tartness (it was very orange-blossomy on me, though, so it's not one that made it into my permanent collection.)

I find Wezwanie/Hold (from the Retail Salons) really nutty. The notes are hazelnut, vanilla bean, red sandalwood, amber, myrrh, and honey - it starts out very hazelnutty and keeps a nutty tone even through drydown. It's a really yummy scent without being extremely sweet &/or foody.

On a mod note - I tweaked the title a bit to add some search terms. There is a separate thread for almond scents already but I thought I'd list some of the more commonly searched nuts to the title.

This time of year seems to bring out my cravings for evergreen notes - seems like Beth is more prone to use them in the winter LEs as well. I wish everyone who loves Dublin had as much of it as they could ever want *sigh* It's definitely my favorite and the scent that first opened my eyes to the fact that I could wear these notes!

I really like the way that Beth's worked that resiny pine pitch note into a few warm-n-fuzzy blends lately, too. I associate so many pine scents with cold winter and snowy woods, but I really find that bit of piney goodness in The Illustrated Woman and Pickled Imp delicious.

So, those of who've been able to try 2008 Yules and Wind in the Willows blends, any standouts in the evergreen department? (I'm thinking the pine and juniper in Moon of Small Spirits are going to make it just lovely, and I haven't ordered anything since the Harvest Moon update! So this little bottle can't travel by itself!)

Orange blossom is a note that I don't like if I just sniff it as a single note - whether I like a blend with it is always completely up in the air until I try it. But I have been smitten with Jezebel (honey, roses, orange blossom and sandalwood) since I first tried it 4+ years ago.

Hunger is a dark and sexy scent - I usually associate orange blossom with lighter, airier florals, so your friend might like trying something different (it's vanilla, black narcissus and orange blossom). Tweedledee's a fun scent, bright & spicy tea with orange blossom (kumquat, white pepper, white tea and orange blossom).

I thought I'd bump this, it seems like this it the time of year that we chatter in this topic the most.

Even though fall hasn't gotten cool enough for my taste yet, I'm finding that Pickled Imp is really invoking lots of "mmm, cool weather! holidays coming next!' feelings.

I usually wear what I want, when I want, regardless of whether it's heavy or light or has summer or winter connotations, but much to my surprise I think that I am not going to be able to wear this one when it's too warm. I put it on recently on a cool morning, but when it got unexpectedly warm later that day it was really too rich and sweet for me. (I am hoping that it really was just a reaction to Pickled Imp and P.I. alone and not a new development in my scent journey, I like wearing Snake Oil in the summer, although never slathered like I do in winter )

and now that the election scents are back up for another 30-something hours, you should be absolutely safe as far as that goes, kaki. =)

I'm looking for some recommendations of florals.. I'm not really good at picking out notes yet, but

 

I usually wear: Bastet, O, Snake Oil, Mouse's Long & Sad Tale

 

I also like: Black Lotus, Hollywood Babylon

 

I'm looking for scents similar to : 51, Pele

 

I didn't like: Amsterdam, Belle Epoque, Xiutecuhtli

 

Anyone got any ideas?

If you like Pele, definitely try Hi'aka. They are beautiful white-floral cousins. Siren might work on you, there's the white ginger flower from Pele in there with some jasmine and sweet apricot. Marcilla, from the CD collection, is a gorgeous floral with sweet notes and fruit that you might like too.

Although how floral it gets will depend on your chemistry, Aeval could be nice - the sweet pea (which is in Mouse) made me think that.

Desdemona has sweet pea, but if the watery quality of Amsterdam is what you didn't like, you may end up not liking it. Juliet, however, doesn't have any watery notes and works for lots of people, even makes floral lovers out of floral haters sometimes! (the notes are sweet pea with stargazer lily, calla lily, heliotrope, honeysuckle, white musk and a touch of fresh pear.)

I'd also suggest Titania for you - it has a cool, sweet fruity quality like 51 and also shares that sweet pea note with Mouse.

Wow, it IS in 146 blends Thinking about that, sandalwood does strike me as one of those notes that is extremely versatile, especially since there are a couple of varieties. I probably own more white sandalwood blends (at least, where a variety is specified) because that seems to be the one that works well with more delicate florals, white musk, citrus and those sorts of notes - I'm thinking of stuff like Zephyr, The Mouse's Long and Sad Tale, Hunger Moon, Cytherea.

But I don't think I necessarily have a preference for white sandalwood! Red sandalwood can smell a little cedar-y to me on occasion although I think that could be a function of what else is in the blend as well as possible batch variations.

From our years(!) together on the forum I know that my scent preferences are way more girlie than yours, ForSpecialPlate, so I probably don't have a ton of gender-neutral recs that will tempt you - but I find the sandalwood does stand up to the other components in Sin (notes are amber, sandalwood, black patchouli and cinnamon); I absolutely adore And There Was a Great Cry In Egypt (dark myrrh, white sandalwood, amber, hyssop, frankincense, honey, cypress, red musk, cardamom and saffron).

How does Morocco work on you (or, have you ever tried it)? I would guess that carnation would be the if factor for most men - but I think that the red sandalwood adds some of the spice in Morocco that I love so much.

The Lab has only released two scents so far that have butterscotch listed as a note - Creepy, a Halloween LE from a few years ago (description: butterscotch-kissed, caramel-smothered red apples spiked with a blast of coconut rum) and Monster Bait: Ventriloquist Dummy (notes: apricot, dry woods, patchouli, caramel, brown sugar, hazelnut, and butterscotch).

There may be some other scents that people find butterscotchy, though (and the Lab doesn't always list every single note in each blend), so I am sure that you will get some suggestions about any of those that BPAL fans have stumbled upon. I would recommend Sticky Pillowcase, from the currently available Halloween LEs - that candy corn note is very butterscotchy to my nose.

And if caramel smells similar to butterscotch to you, you will probably have good luck finding a few things that will make you happy. There is a thread about caramel scents here that you will probably find helpful.

Autumn scents are apparently my favorite - this is a new discovery. My favorites (pending the current batch of Halloweenies):

 

-Punkie Night

-Harvest Moon 2005

-L'Autunno - the patchouli should make this one horrible on me, but somehow it behaves and becomes apples, spices, and a hint of woodsmoke lurking in the background

-Creepy

 

I need a nice dead-leaves-and-cold-air blend, too.

Of all the Four Seasons Inquisitions, L'Autunno (specifically, the perfume) had me the most doubtful that it would work. For one, apples, which I once loved, have been turning on me (doesn't this paint a great visual? But sadly, it's why Punkie Night and I aren't friends anymore. At least Creepy did me the favor of being all burnt-sugary from the start so we didn't have to break up!) Anyway, I wasn't sure about the toasted almond, which can get weird and sweet, or the woodsmoke, which is a note that can just overwhelm me. But I wore it yesterday and baby oh baby Not to create an insane and impossible lemming in anyone who hasn't tried it, I hate when that happens to me. But if you happened to get a bottle, were on the fence about it and haven't worn it yet this season, run to your BPAL box and just see if you aren't suddenly powerless in its spell! I think you will be.

Harvest Moon '05 is another perfect Autumn blend. *sigh* Now that the cool weather's arrived in our area, I'm getting slightly panicky wanting to slap all of them on at once. Summer lasts a looooong time in Atlanta, no matter what the calendar says!