ivyandpeony

The Rose (from Marchen) is a very realistic rose scent - it reminds me of Rose Red and vice versa. I'd recommend either of them to get that true rose. Two, Five and Seven is also very realistic, but the grass note makes it go a little weird for me. I actually would prefer it in a diffuser vs. on my skin, since that's where the grass goes odd. With the GC scents, you do have the option of getting sample sizes (imps) first from the Lab before committing to 5 ml bottles.

These are all my takes, so of course chemistry comes into play.

 

The creamiest vanilla to me - pushing a little into the buttery territory, but not so much that I can't wear it - is Detestable Putrescence. Other creamy vanillas: Love's Philosophy, MB Underpants, Waltz of the Snowflakes, MB Bigger Critters, Humbug. Castitas bath oil from the Trading Post is also a super-creamy vanilla that layers wonderfully with vanilla BPAL blends of all types.

 

"Hidden" vanillas, where it isn't listed as a note, but the scent has a vanilla-y quality on me: The Girl, Under The Harvest Moon, Morocco, Antique Lace, Velvet Bandito.

 

Sugary vanillas: Dragon's Milk, Le Serpent Qui Danse (which I would only recommend to floral lovers!), Tamora, Mouse's Long and Sad Tale, O, Regan, Pickled Imp

 

Dry vanillas, which may skew to aquatic, mineral-y or crystalline for me: White Rabbit, Black Opal, Lyonesse, Zephyr, Dolce Stil Nuovo, Kubla Khan, Torture Queen, Ashlultum, Mr. Ibis

Welcome to the forum - I hope you are enjoying yourself so far! There's a topic in Beyond Perfume that may have some more info on the details of using BPAL in your diffuser - you can find it here. I usually put some unscented soy wax (from chopping up a votive, or using a whole soy tealight) in the top of my tealight-powered warmer with the oil because I've had issues with oils smoking, but if your diffuser is specifically designed for oils you should be fine.

 

BPAL oils are a less potent than straight essential oils, but they are pretty concentrated. Some blends will be a lot stronger than others depending on the components. I usually start out with less than I think I'll need, then add a little more at a time. I have used as much as 1 ml (an imp) in one use for light scents, but usually less than that. You may just need to experiment, since the size of your space, the strength you prefer and the potency of the scent are all going to be factors.

 

One scent that I find particularly evocative is Ulalume - it's an earthy forest scent overlain with lilies. Whoso List To Hunt has rose with some resinous and earthy components. Mata Hari is one of the most unusual rose-jasmine blends, there's also vanilla, woods and coffee in that one and I really love the combination. And I second Bengal, Cathedral, and Sin. All are beautiful and comforting to me.

I tend to think that redness without little welts or itching is a sensitivity and not a full blown allergy but of course, I have absolutely no medical training There are a couple of other spices in addition to cinnamon that can make me a little red - cassia, cardamom and pepper notes are the ones that come to mind (Alone and Red Phoenix both gave me a little bit of that redness w/o itchiness or welts and I think they both have cardamom). I've also gotten that redness sometimes if I'm testing something too soon after a shower or if I inadvertently get more active than I thought I'd be. So a lot of the time I avoid my spicier scents in warmer weather just because of that. It could also be the variety of cinnamon vs. the variety in the oils that you haven't reacted to. So many fun factors to consider

 

If you decide to skin-test it again, try the back of your hand where the skin is less sensitive than the inner arms (if you didn't the first time) and apply some unscented lotion beforehand, too. Sometimes it seems like my dry winter skin is more sensitive & soaks stuff up if I don't stay on top of keeping it moisturized.

 

(What's funny is, I have a gorgeous Trading Post locket and I have found that I hardly ever wear it. When I have the experience of something not working on me even though it's beautiful in the bottle, or making my skin irritated, I tell myself "Oh! Scent locket!" But I have so much stuff that doesn't have those issues - and I think that I enjoy applying and wearing my BPAL so much that those high-maintenance blends end up falling by the wayside.)

Coconut isn't a great note on me if the overall feel of the blend is tropical, but when Beth's combined it with unexpected notes it really works well for me and I love the effect. I agree, Roses, Pearls & Diamonds is gorgeous! If you love White Rose (the LE Trading Post blend) RP&D is a great alternative in the general catalog. And if you love RP&D and happen to have a chance to snag a bottle of White Rose in swaps, go for it, chances are you will love it.

 

Most of my favorite coconut blends are LEs. Paduan Killer Swarm - another blend where coconut is combined with unexpected notes (it's tonka, black licorice, amber, golden sandalwood, ginger cream, bitter clove, stinging nettle, cinnamon bark, and coconut shell). And Paper Kite Butterfly is unique among BPAL blends IMO, peppery and coconutty.

If you like that bright, almost-citrusy ginger in Sudha Sugara, you should try Baobhan Sith, Kumiho and The Apothecary. Baobhan Sith is grapefruit, tea + that ginger on me. Kumiho is gingery white tea and Apothecary is the greenest of the three, a little hard for me to describe but very bright and fresh. I'm sorry I'm not familiar with the Origins scent that you mentioned!

Rocza, I would go ahead and e-mail the Lab about it now. You may just hear from them "oh, no problem, we just got one order from you," but if CCNow did screw up and send your order to the Lab twice, they would probably appreciate knowing about it as soon as possible too The earlier they hear about the potential problem, the more they can do to help you solve it.

 

I haven't used CCNow in several years, so I don't know how long they take to respond - but hopefully they will soon!

Of course TAL &/or the Lab will have your final answer, but whether it's a US order or international order, the separate companies under the Black Phoenix umbrella (BPAL, the Trading Post and TAL) have so far been unable to offer combined shipping. As completely separate companies, they have separate bank accounts and bookkeeping; the time it takes each from production to shipping can also vary greatly.

Glad to help! Even with smaller orders, it's hard to work with the 300 character limit.

This is indeed SO Christmassy - yet doesn't make me feel like a holiday candle or a big bowl of Christmas potpourri. I think, at least on my skin, that the amber and honey give it an anchoring element that make it a perfume rather than a straight up, foody-evergreen scent you'd spray all over your house (although it would make a gorgeous room scent if you are so inclined). So I have sort of an amber and honey base with these festive holiday elements wafting over it - the pine, the sweet berries, a hint of pumpkin pie spice. Although I don't get any sort of ozone or "crisp air" note, this isn't heavy or cloying, so there's some sort of magic afoot that kept this from being overwhelmingly sweet and leadfooted. Makes me want to open the windows and shout at everyone in the street, send an urchin down to the butcher for that giant goose in the window, and generally merry-make.

I love this! All the components are really well balanced - I don't amp the red musk like I sometimes do and it sweetens the leather, really making it wearable for someone who often finds that note too dry and masculine. There's just the littlest bit of a sweet buttery note that must be the pie, but it's not overwhelming or sickly for someone who can't wear the buttery notes in Jack or the pastry notes in Knave of Hearts. So the pie note and the pepper note are the lightest ones on me, but they're definitely contributing to the whole.

 

When you just get a whiff, it's almost sasparilla-y. Get closer and the individual elements pop more. I can't wait to actually wear this all day instead of just testing a dab of it to see how that part goes when I apply more.

There were a few moments of terror, when I first sniffed this from the bottle and when I first applied it. Lavender terror! It was incredibly strong, like single note lavender. And I like lavender, but not as a dominant note, so I was wondering if I had rolled the dice and lost. But then, after just a few minutes, the lavender fog lifted and this scent started to morph into what I wanted it to be. It is soft, a little sweet and a little woody - nicely anchored by the opoponax, with a hint of blackberry, a gentle and cooperative patchouli (as opposed to a raw and dominant one) and a little bit of a green feel. The cognac floats just on top and is also a gentle version as opposed to the in-your-face cognac note in The Imp of The Perverse. I really like this one & I am looking forward to seeing how it ages - hoping that sassy lavender will step back a little bit, but it's worth the few minutes of dominant lavender for the rest of the ride.

I was a little afraid of the orange blossom when I ordered, but love the other notes so much that I was willing to take a chance. I got worried again at the first few reviews. But this one has turned out really well for me. I am getting lots of orange blossom, but it's working for me in this blend. I don't know if it's a different variety than that featured in some of the GC blends or if it's the combination of ingredients. This is a sweet combination of vanilla, teas and orange blossom on my skin, different from anything else I've tried in the BPAL-verse. I can smell the sandalwood coming out a bit more the longer I wear it, anchoring the sweeter elements. Really beautiful.

I'm picturing Joel Grey in his sparkly white-elf robes as the Ghost of Christmas Past in one of my favorite versions of A Christmas Carol, the 1999 version with Patrick Stewart as Scrooge - this is what he would smell like and I love this blend! For me, it's in the family of The Girl, The Shadowy and The Sublime, Under The Harvest Moon - it's got that crystalline musk and amber combo that makes it feel shimmery. The vanilla is a supporting player, I get no zdravetz at all (it's usually very resinous & geranium-like on me) and the florals must be adding some sweetness but they aren't dominant. It would be a great spring or summer scent, but I will wear it all year long.

I apparently have the kind of chemistry that makes The Waltz of the Snowflakes predominantly sweet, creamy vanilla. There's a hint of green in the background from the mint and evergreen and I even get a little bit of a waft of something that makes me think of Snow White. I find that Snowblind is much mintier, but the creamy, cold vanilla does remind me of it a bit. I really love this!

Once you've computed your final total, send the paypal payment to the Lab. In the comments box, tell them "Order details will follow by e-mail."

 

Then send an e-mail to answers@blackphoenixalchemylab.com. You can give it a title like "Order Details for Sally Brown" or whatever name is on the paypal account. Be sure to include the e-mail address the PayPal payment came from, the name of the PayPal account owner, the total amount of the payment, the date, and the unique transaction ID number that Paypal assigns to the transaction. Then list the items in your order.

 

Within a day or two, you should receive an e-mail from the Lab letting you know that they've matched up your PayPal payment with your order details. Works for me every time!

...

Here are the rules of thumb that I use.

 

If you are looking for something that is similar to a limited edition, use the LE thread to ask.

 

If you are looking for something similar to a GC or discontinued GC blend, use this thread.

 

If you notice that any scent, GC or LE, resembles an LE scent and want to tell the world, it's best to put it in the LE thread. That way people who are looking for something similar to that LE can find it there. If you are posting about an LE scent that resembles a discontinued GC, you might also want to crosspost to this thread so that people who are pining for that DC blend will find that info.

 

If you notice a similarity between two (or more) GCs or find something that seems to be a good replacement for a discontinued GC, this thread is the best place for it.

 

Hopefully that makes sense - again, it's not a big deal, definitely not even something you would get reminded/warned for

 

With another round of unexpected GC scents being discontinued, I thought it might make it easier for all of us to have a thread dedicated to those from now on. You can find it here: http://www.bpal.org/topic/71400-when-your-favorite-gc-blends-are-discontinued/

 

I'll be slowly moving posts about discontinued scents over there from this thread. And of course, this thread can still be used to discuss similarities and scent families or request advice on scents you might like. Let me know if you have any questions

just the every so often bump

I think that E Pluribus Unum is one of the overstock scents that the Lab has in its etsy shop right now, if anyone is currently seeking it.

 

I wish I had some March Hare suggestions - I tend to really amp clove, and apricot is pretty much a doom note for me. I love that scent in theory and if there was an abundant endless supply, I'd love it as a room scent but that's blasphemy now!

We've always included discontinueds in the general BPAL to BPAL similarities thread in the past - but I think that the list has gotten long enough that a separate thread would be more useful for everyone.

 

Please feel free to start adding your observations or requests to this thread - I will start going through the general thread and moving posts over here bit by bit, just wanted everyone to get used to seeing this title and have a chance to read this post before I start moving posts with earlier dates into the thread.

 

Also, please keep in mind the guideline for this subforum that we keep it to BPAL recommendations - Retail Therapy is the area for discussing other companies.

When I first sniffed Sibyl in the bottle, it reminded me of White Rose from the BPTP rose duo - and for about the first 30 minutes it smelled very similar on me. I think maybe the tea note is similar and I was amping the rose while it was drying down. Once it had time to settle on my skin, it started to morph into something different from White Rose and became a deep vanilla musk with hints of honey and rose. I love BPAL's cognac note(s) so was a teeny bit disappointed that I couldn't really detect it, but who knows what will happen with some aging &/or a different week of the month - it's a beautiful thing

Moonflower is a note that seems to work well on me - although I couldn't take an oath that I could identify it in a blend without fail. It's a clear and sweet floral, not as keyed-up or heady as jasmine, gardenia, or the other "white" florals. A lot of the Lab's scents that include "night blooming" stuff in the description seem to suit me & moonflower often gets included in those. I just discovered Halloween: Brooklyn in the past week or so and the sweet moonflower stands out really nicely against the crisp green woods.

 

Here are a few LE favorites:

Silver Phoenix, from last year's Anniversaries (Opalescent orris shimmering through a blend of mallow, moonflower, wild pear, iris, starwort, juniper, and mugwort)

The Witching Time of Night (Moonflower, night-blooming cereus, white hellebore, English ivy, monkshood, angel's trumpet, oleander, and eastern hemlock)

The Gibbous Moon (Moonflower, Madonna lily, orris, white ginger, cucumber, hyacinth, and Irish moss)

White Moon (the blossoms of loss and liberation, soothed by the calm, comforting scent of sandalwood : lilac, calla lily, wisteria, white sandalwood, moonflower, night musk, phlox, and violet)

 

From the GC, Titania has moonflower - I can't fully evaluate it for you because peach kills it for me, but I am sure someone else will!

 

 

Although these LEs don't specifically have moonflower, I have gotten the moonflower vibe from them & they might be worth trying:

 

Black Butterfly Moon (Lady of the Night orchid, benzoin, opopponax, currant, black chypre, white gardenia, ambergris, damp, wooded mosses, and black lily)

Ether (Translucent blooms, ethereal white resins, and davana)

I'm not big on foody scents - I like them but often sugary or caramel-y notes end up warping when they hit my skin, and in a bad way. So I don't have tons of suggestions, but Midway immediately comes to mind. It was an LE release with Carnival Noir in 2005, reappeared when that Carnival briefly came back to town in 2006, then was also resurrected for the Lab's anniversary in 2007. It can be hard to find because people love it so much and don't want to part with it - but I do see it pop up on swaps and on eBay on occasion. To me, it smells just like the description - "A bombardment of edible carnival indulgences. Funnel cake, caramel apple, cotton candy, salt water taffy and sugar tart."

 

There was another blend in the Carnaval Noir series that you might like to try if you can track some down - Shill. It smells like buttered popcorn. I have a feeling that you could layer it with all sorts of foody things to get more of a carnival food effect though. I wonder if Bread-and-Butterfly might be work similarly.

 

(And just a brief mod note - responders please keep in mind that we do limit this section of the forum to BPAL recommendations only. The Retail Therapy section is for recs of other companies' scents Since the OP doesn't mind receiving PMs you can feel free to send her those suggestions via PM as well. Thank you everyone!)

Deep in Earth is very mossy and foresty to me, with nothing sweet at all.

 

I don't know how you feel about lily notes, but Ulalume has the most mossy, deep in the woods, crunching on leaves and turning up the wet leaves below kind of scent to me, with just a little bit of stargazer lily wafting on top.

Red Tide. It was all raspberry all the time when I skin tested it!