ivyandpeony

This one was a very pretty, sweet cream scent on me. I was disappointed in my chemistry, though, because not one bit of the sarsparilla that I could smell in the bottle would come out on my skin. So as pretty and sweet as it was, it ultimately was like a lighter, less vanilla-y version of Detestable Putrescence for me, when what I wanted was that slightly spicy root beer float. Nothing bad or offensive or anything like that, but when a super-special hard to find BPAL doesn't blow me away, to me there's no sense in tucking it in a drawer and not enjoying it, it's meant for someone else. So it made its way across the country to a new home and I scored a bottle of something else that was meant for me

I particularly love the White Rose scent from the White Rose/Red Rose pairing - and when I recently tried Roses, Pearls and Diamonds from the GC it struck me that they're a bit similar I love having a light, fresh rose scent (not that I don't appreciate the dark, sexy ones on occasion too).

For some reason BPAL strawberry scents really make me think of being a teenager, although I never wore any kind of strawberry perfume myself in the 80s - I did have a friend who wore some kind of strawberry "essential" oil, maybe that's where it comes from. So Maenad or Swank might be good ones if that appeals to you, either of the Strawberry Moons or Candy Phoenix might work too. And janelle_hell is right, there is something in Stardust that does have a bit of hairspray feel about it. I definitely get a hit of nostalgia from the scent of pure, hardcore Aquanet

I haven't found a BPAL that truly smells like Love's Baby Soft, another 80s hit for me, although there are some that are kind of soft & baby-ish, like Lilith Victoria. There is a thread here devoted to scents that remind people of babies, if that's one of your 80s nostalgia scents too it's worth a look. But Dolce Stil Nuovo really reminds me of Sweet Honesty in the strangest way and I doused myself in that stuff on the earlier end of the 80s!

That's the thing about the 80s, I was 14 in January 1980, 25 in December 1989, so that's quite a lot of change. By the end of the 80s it was heavier stuff for me, like Obsession and Poison. There are plenty of heady, grown-up-lady BPAL scents like Chrysanthemum Moon, Romanti.Goth, and Haunted that have a similar feel to me as those scents.

Here are some threads that might be helpful in your search -

Gourmand & foody blends - general recs

The sweetest and most candy-like blends

Baked goods scents

Keep an open mind as you try new scents - sometimes you'll get a beautiful, pure sweet note from a blend where you least expected it. Sudha Segara comes to mind for me.

Here's a completely subjective list of some scents I think could have dragon's blood where it isn't specifically listed as a note. Far from inclusive, and I am sure people will have others to add and may disagree with some of them.

LE:

The Cracked Bell (lots of people smell it, this went odd and sharp on me so it probably is in there! But it is still a beautiful scent)

Inganok Jewelers (ditto on that)

The Castle (I can wear this and I absolutely love it, so if there's dragon's blood in it, it's an exception to the rule!)

Midnight Kiss

Quicksilver Phoenix (that cinnabar note seems a little dragon's blood-y to me)

The Chapel

The Dole of the King's Daughter

GC:

Centzon Tetochtin

Thorns

My disclaimer is that I really can't wear dragon's blood at all. I like the way it smells in the bottle but my body chemistry gives it this terrible acrid quality. However, sometimes I can wear blends that have just "blood" or "blood accord" listed, which makes me think that those notes in a description don't automatically = dragon's blood and that Beth probably uses a number of formulas to achieve those notes. Still, when you have exhausted the list of dragon's blood scents, start trying the ones that have just blood or blood accord listed and you may find that you get a nice resiny dragon's blood effect from one or more of them.

Also, keep an eye out for "daemenorops" as a note - this is another name for a type of dragon's blood. Anactoria, Man with Phallus Head, The Contract of Theophilus of Adana, I Married A Vampire From Planet X, and Wilhemina Murray are all LEs that contain it and The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed With the Sun from The Salon has it as well.

I thought I would bump this as I'm doing a little Recs housekeeping tonight - since the question of "this one or that one" comes up fairly often, I changed the title of this thread to open it up for all of that sort of discussion.

Does anyone know if Kumiho is similar to the (now a website-only "Classic") Bath & Body Works White Tea and Ginger? I love that scent, but it is only sold in a few items now. (I have learned that note descriptions can sometimes be deceiving!)

I do find them very similar - crisp, pretty and simple, if there are other notes in there I don't pick up on them. And since it's GC it's an easy, low-cost & low-risk investment to pick up an imp in a lab order or via swaps.

Chrystanza, I will have to pull out my Dreamland and give it a whirl again, see if I come up with anything. It's such a beautiful scent. I wish there were more tuberose BPAL blends!

I was able to buy a bottle of Egg Moon at GA Will Call last night and realized that it reminds me a bit of Bakeneko - the resins and spices are what are doing it, I think. Bakeneko leans toward "clean" with the brighter tea and citrus notes, where I find that Egg Moon is creamier. (I was also amazed and relieved that I didn't get even a hint of redness from the cassia-cinnamon punch in Egg Moon, since I am famous for being pale and sensitive and welty.)

For those who are specifically interested in eucalyptus scents, there is a thread here. And if you find that you really, really want more medicine than perfume, the Panacea category is a gold mine. For example, OOF is super menthol-eucalyptus and is really heavenly if you are congested! Even the ones that aren't in the "relief" category seem a bit medicinal to me, I think it's the way that they are all very organic, essential-oils-only in feel.

Even when cherry notes give me a brief memory of cherry cough syrup, it doesn't turn me off a scent too much. But I can remember eating entire tins of cherry Sucrets when left to my own devices as a kid What does bother me is an orangey-baby aspirin smell. I don't think there's any such think as baby aspirin these days since it can cause Reyes syndrome and there are so many alternative fever & pain meds for kids, but those of a certain age will remember those orange flavored St. Joseph's baby aspirin I get a little bit of that from Kunstkammer since it is so predominantly orange. Luckily, Beth seems to offset sweet citrus notes with other interesting things that are spicy or resinous, so I haven't ever gotten a true snozz full of baby aspirin from BPAL blend. (But I do have a curse - if I try to mix up a cocktail without using some kind of bartender's guide or a recipe, 95% of the time it tastes like baby aspirin. Really! But that's probably a discussion for Eat, Drink & Be Merry)

Anyone know which oils Last Squished Jelly Bean and Saw Scaled Viper have in common?

 

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The Lab never released a description or notes for The Last Squished Jelly Bean, so you'd definitely have to e-mail them to get a definitive answer. Otherwise, you're just relying on reviewers and what their opinions are. (It's been a while since I smelled that one, so I won't offer any guesses - but Saw Scaled Viper is a notorious skin-burner for the sensitive Right up there with the super cinnamon-y Inferno!)

I love the Lab's bamboo note - it does seem to land in LEs more often than GCs to me. The Asian lunacies from 2006 (Holiday, Peony, Budding, Dragon, etc.) all seem to have it, as does Whippoorwill (hard to find LE from the original Springtime in Arkham). Although it isn't listed I think Silk Road may have it too.

I'm not much help on aloe since it's a note I don't particularly care for. But another thread that you might want to look over is the one on Green Scents. If you enjoy bamboo & aloe it's likely that you'll find lots of fresh green scent recs there.

CCNow charges a higher percentage of fees to the Lab for its services than PayPal does - I think I saw a figure somewhere of 9% versus 3.5% but I can't remember where that was, so don't take that figure as gospel. I do know it's higher

As far as the ordering queue goes, even though the Lab gets PayPal orders directly, as soon as they receive CCNow orders those go into the queue by their order date and not the date that the Lab receives them, so that customers using CCNow won't be at a disadvantage.

It is true that you have a milestone w/CCNow as far as knowing if your order was harvested - but when it comes down to it, I'd say just use the method you prefer, because I've seen plenty of people post about problems with CCNow too. There's the occasional PayPal order that somehow gets lost in the ether, then there are people whose cards get charged 2 or 3X by CCNow so their money or credit is tied up, or whose order is inexplicably cancelled sending them into a panic about whether they'll be able to get an LE that's been pulled down by the Lab in the meantime.

Here are two threads that might help (the last few pages that are most recent are likely the most helpful):

CCNow or PayPal - how should I pay

CCNow questions and problems

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but I'm so torn right now. I just got Strangler Fig in and put it on. I've been sneezing all morning, my mouth is filmy, and my eyes kinda tingle/are mildly irritated. but it smells SOOOO good on me! argh!

 

should I just stay away from it even though I like it?? anyone have any advice?

Yeah, no matter how much I liked the smell, I don't think those symptoms would be worth it to me. It's the kind of stuff I'm trying to avoid all the time just due to pesky nature by taking Zyrtec, steroid nasal spray and prescription eye drops, so if I can easily avoid something unnecessary that causes those symptoms I definitely will. With all allergies, your reactions could also get worse the more you're exposed to the allergen(s). You can always try other scents in the same category &/or scents with similar notes to see if you can find one that doesn't trigger a reaction.

I've had my first allergic reaction to a BPAL oil. I broke out in raised welts and had a rather nasty rash where the oil was applied. What was it you ask?

 

Oddly, King of Hearts: "Rosewood and black cherry with white musk, red rose, red musk and a spark of lavender."

 

I've worn all of these notes before, except rosewood. Is it possible that I'm allergic to rosewood? That strikes me as a very odd thing to be allergic to!

Keep in mind, too, that you can develop allergies or sensitivies to stuff that you tolerated in the past - but on the other hand, it could also be that there was just a higher concentration of whatever ingredient made you react in this blend. I've reacted to cinnamon with big welts when I tried some blends where there's a whole lot of it, but can tolerate a little. Next time you try a blend with rosewood, try a really small amount in a less-sensitive area like the back of your hand and be ready to observe, wash off, etc.

I get lots and lots of fruit from this - in the bottle, wet and when it's dried down. For me, it's less a candied citrus than a candied quince, similar to a super-sweet pear note. I really get very little mandarin, it's probably the least prominent note in the blend for me. This heavy, sweet fruitiness isn't quite what I was expecting, but something I find that I like now that I have tried this. There's a little booziness from the cognac and as this dries down, the fruit does back off a bit. Not completely, but enough that I seem to pick up on the tobacco and honey anchoring it. This has really strong throw and lasting power too. It's beautiful now and I will be looking forward to seeing how the elements interact as it ages.

Swarthy, almost a little scary in the bottle for me - I tend to be a fan of girly scents so this took a wee bit of courage to skin test. But Morven is much nicer on the skin. This could be a cousin of Velvet Bandito with its spicy clove and smooth woody notes. I was expecting metallics or harsh vetiver, but this scent is warm, almost resinous. For my personal tastes, I might have to layer it with something sweeter to make it sweet and feminine enough for me - my skin has no natural sweetness and this is on the dry and masculine side, although there indeed is nothing cologne-like about it, just warm, smooth and gentle spices. I think this will be a real winner for lots of people - men and women alike.

It's not any kind of rule I think some people like to keep playing the Chaos game when they're swapping and selling/buying, so the spoiler tags just make it easy - if the receiver wants to be surprised, they are; if not, they can read the impressions the first owner had. Some people will link to their review instead and then the potentail swapper/buyer can choose whether or not to read it.

I was going through the 30-days-old "personal" topics seeing what needed to be archived and it occurred to me that this question is realloy more general and pops up on occasion. So I thought I would bump it, add the subtitle and leave it for the next member who wants help figuring out what their favorite scents have in common so they can find more recs. Have fun and thank you for the idea, sqwook (And if anyone does have additional ideas for sqwook, please feel free to continue the discussion!)

stitchpirate, in my experience there isn't a predictable time period for back orders - your best bet would be to double check with the Lab and see if they're any closer. The only reason any scents are on back order these days is a component issue, so it's a matter of them waiting to get the raw materials and to have Beth or Brian blend the scent. (I remember hearing about a time right before I discovered BPAL, more than five years ago, when they actually had bottles on back order - but any big issues are usually announced here in the forum, so no worries there.)

I found just five scents that specifically listed "white honey" as a note - Anactoria of course, The Oblation, Faiza, Agrhat-Bat-Mahlat, and Itaso Kansai Nenkan Joro No Fuzoku. Off the top of my head, I can't say if the white honey struck me any differently in the two that I own (Faiza & Itaso), since I don't wear them often. I know that Beth does get her hands on honey single notes that have different qualities, the same way that different honeys can have subtly different flavors. Some can be a little more herbal, some can be really heavy and sweet, some can be a little floral - I got lucky and had the opportunity to sniff a few of them once.

Hetairae is one of my all-time favorite BPAL scents. I always tell people who like it to try Sed Non Satiata and Bien Loin D'ici - to me they have a similar feel as well as sharing some common notes here and there. And There Was A Great Cry In Egypt is another one that falls in that family to me, rich and complex and a little more on the resinous side. If it's the fig & honey that are appealing to you, Eden has fig and honey but with a completely different feel. It's a fresh green fig with coconut instead of a rich ripe fig.

In the bottle and wet, Black Heart is incredibly fruity on me - very plummy and grape-y, I don't really get pomegranate (which is usually a fairly tart note on me). It's a plum with a really dark feel and the grape sweetens it somewhat, unlike some other plum scents where I almost sense a little tannic feel like a big red wine or a bit of tartness where the plum isn't quite fully ripe.

It takes a bit of drydown for the other notes to start to bloom and like several other reviewers, I find that the purple fruits really back off. I end up detecting a lot of honey, vanilla and sweet pea, yet there's a very dark feel to this scent - which may be the effect of the sandalwood and cognac as well as the remainder of those dark fruits. Honey, vanilla and sweet pea are all favorite notes of mine and it never occurred to me until now that I might actually amp them a bit. You wouldn't think that anyone could amp a note and overpower cognac, but you never know, huh?!

I haven't tried layering with Black Lace yet, and I didn't buy Black Heart (although now I am tempted after reading reviews ) Should such experiments occur, I will update ASAP!

Both Gennivre and Clemence are in Carnaval Diabolique - I usually won't recommend un-impable stuff to people who are brand new to the forum &/or the Lab, but I figured you have been around the block a couple times I happen to amp mint like no ones' business, so I didn't get the tea and honey I wanted from Gennivre, but others have. Mint will really dominate almost anything on me!

And on the flip side, I can rarely smell milk or cream notes on my skin, they tend to just smooth out a blend for me. It's like they add a creamy quality without actually adding the smell of cream, if that makes sense. Those who really hate the milk &/or linen notes have mentioned them in some of the White Rabbit reviews - so it may really be one of those blends that can be so different from person to person that it's hard to predict until you try it.

I like the floral-y tea blends too, but sometimes you just want that tea note to dominate.

I forgot to mention Kumiho - it's white tea, so it's not as strong a tea note, but it's just that & ginger. So it's very crisp and clean.

Tacey, have you tried White Rabbit? The notes are black tea, milk, white pepper, ginger, honey, vanilla, and linen - I find it to be a sweet and spicy tea scent. I don't get a lot of milk or linen from it, I think they may just lend some balance as least as far as my chemistry works.

Tweedledum is crisp and green in an Apothecary kind of way - green mango, fig, patchouli and green tea.

Although Gennivre, L'Artiste du Diable does have orange blossom, I didn't get a bit of it - the other elements really outweighed any floral quality. The notes are Hyson tea leaf, pale mint, sugar cane, orange blossom, lemongrass, and honey.

The same thing happened for me with the carnation in Clemence (I happen to love carnation, but I know you don't want to smell like a flower ) It just smells like a super-spicy heavy black tea on me - I think the spices in it just stomp the carnation to oblivion, or maybe some of the spice I smell in there is a little bit of spicy carnation, but there is definitely no floral vibe for me. The notes are patchouli, Kashmiri tea, cardamom, black pepper, carnation, and clove. This is a blend that gets better and better with age, too.

Oh, no worries at all! I didn't get a backseat modding vibe from you And my posts are "member opinion" not official mod talk, I'd use VOG for that.

You are right about that, ephemera... but it would be good if newbies read the guidelines thoroughly and tried using the search engine/contacting a moderator to find the information they want before starting threads like this one, considering there is a nine-page existing thread on the subject.

That's a lot of angst over a $25 purchase. Visit this thread, where the subject of natural perfumery's been discussed at lenghth and just make up your own mind when the order arrives.