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Impish One

Looking for a Gardenia scent

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Le Serpent Qui Danse is a lovely sweet and creamy violet and gardenia blend.

 

Otherwise, try the single note of gardenia to play up the gardenia scent in your favorite scents. Single note gardenia and vanilla bean might be a heavenly combo!

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Sacred Whore of Babylon is a spicy gardenia. =)

It is gardenia!! I knew it! (I wore Sacred Whore of Babylon this morning and spent a good couple of hours trying to figure out what flower it was that I kept smelling ... my guess was either gardenia or magnolia :P )

 

Anyway, it is quite nice and floral on me, though very spicy in the bottle.

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Sacred Whore of Babylon is a spicy gardenia.

 

whoo hoo!!! That is almost to the letter what I wrote in my review of sacred whore of babylon! I finally got one! I do love this, and bought a 5 ml. of it right after I sampled an imp. It's very gorgeous. I love gardenia's so much. They remind me of my grandparents yard.

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That's why I couldn't figure it out!!! (having a moment of "duh") I could smell this incensey/resiny scent, but I kept smelling something familiar... Like the damned gardenia bush that was right outside my childhood house in our front yard.

 

....Unfortunately my boyfriend is horribly allergic to gardenia (well, most florals, but especially gardenia and wisteria -- two of my favs), and the last time I visited my father he tried to give us some fresh gardenias to take with us... That didn't work out so well... :P

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Black Dahlia is a lovely gardenia scent. It is sweet (there's some jasmine in it as well), but not too sweet. Also, it contains some amber, which nicely grounds the scent.

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Ooh, Sacred Whore of Babylon sounds gorgeous. As does the Gardenia single-note. I love gardenias.

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Right I'll be adding Sacred whore of babylon and a single gardenia note to my next imp order. My mother LOVES gardenias.

 

I wonder if I can get the label past her or if I'll have to trim it off. Then again she's shown a wild streak far more than I would ever anticipate previously so who knows...

 

Hmm christmas/yule gifts....

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going to give this a *bump* because today my mom informed me about a long standing secret dream for a good gardenia perfume, and i would like to help her with that dream. if not in time for yule, certainly in time for her bday in march.

 

i can not in good conscience have the first bpal i give my good catholic mother have word "whore" on it. so the sacred whore of babylon is out, at least until she understands about bpal a little more. aside from that, most of the standing recommendations here are for the single note, to which i just pound my head on the table and wish i knew about bpal and my mom's gardenia wish back when those were readily available.

 

i did a note search but only a few things came up and it's hard to say where the gardenia will be most prominant. my mother says she likes florals, mostly, but as long as a full and fleshy gardenia is a lead note, we can probably play around with some wood, cream, or spices.

 

are magnolia and gardenia very similar? my only real reference are yankee harbor candles, i'm afraid.

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I get more honey and light fruit from Thaleia, but it has gardenia in it and some other people who've tried it have found it to be strong gardenia on them. It's a wonderfully happy cheerful scent either way :-)

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I *love* gardenias, and there's been a couple of really beautiful gardenia scents introduced since this thread was first started!

 

My first suggestion would be Euphrosyne. I think it's the truest gardenia scent in the BPAL catalog, and the gardenia is softened by vanilla. And it's a traditional floral perfume. It's gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!

 

Also, Tavern of Hell starts out a little scary, but after a couple of minutes dries down to a lovely creamy gardenia scent. However, Tavern of Hell may be no better of a name than Sacred Whore....

 

Oh, and Blood Countess! Although the berries are stronger than the gardenias in that one, it's just a great scent.

 

Also - although the notes aren't listed, so this is just my speculation - I think Swadhisthana from the Chakras (the sacral chakra) has a strong gardenia scent. It's gorgeous, too - one of my very, very favorites.

 

Magnolia is definitely similar to gardenia...I also think tuberose is close as well, and plumeria & jasmine to an extent. Although jasmine can go several ways.

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I would have to strongly second clover's rec of Euphrosyne- it is creamy and lovely, and Euphrosyne is the Gratiae/Charity of mirth, I think!

 

Le Serpent Qui Danse is another good gardenia, but unless she hates roses and loves violets, I'd really lean towards Euphrosyne... then again, I love Euphrosyne. :P

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I *love* gardenias, and there's been a couple of really beautiful gardenia scents introduced since this thread was first started!

 

Exactly!! I got a little woozey noticing the last time this thread had been updated was over two years ago!!

 

My first suggestion would be Euphrosyne. I think it's the truest gardenia scent in the BPAL catalog, and the gardenia is softened by vanilla. And it's a traditional floral perfume. It's gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!

 

Thank you so much for recommending Euphrosyne, it makes me feel better about my instincts. My eye went right to it and I almost started hunting the sale area for a sample, but I wanted to check with someone who might have had some experience with it first.

 

Sounds like Mom and I may end up fighting over that one, hmmmm.... :)

 

Also, Tavern of Hell starts out a little scary, but after a couple of minutes dries down to a lovely creamy gardenia scent. However, Tavern of Hell may be no better of a name than Sacred Whore....

 

Yeah, see, I was freaking out a couple weeks ago because a frimp of Bordello was making me smell like "Very Berry" Koolaide... she overheard me being overly theatrical on the telphone, saying "I CAN'T BELIEVE I'VE MADE A BORDELLO SMELL LIKE CHILDREN'S PRESWEETENED FRUIT PUNCH" and she asked, with a great deal of concern, if there was perhaps some kind of self-esteem issue behind why was wearing something called "Bordello" in the first place.... :D I come at her with hell and whores and I might be getting a specially consecrated chastity belt this Yule...

 

Also - although the notes aren't listed, so this is just my speculation - I think Swadhisthana from the Chakras (the sacral chakra) has a strong gardenia scent. It's gorgeous, too - one of my very, very favorites.

 

Oooh, thank you, that was another reason I asked--because I know a few of the blends don't reveal their notes in the description. I will look for a decant of that one, as well.

 

Magnolia is definitely similar to gardenia...I also think tuberose is close as well, and plumeria & jasmine to an extent. Although jasmine can go several ways.

 

Usually the way jasmine goes on me is "THERE IS NO DANA. ONLY JASMINE." I've been wondering if we'll demonstrate similar tendancies in our chemistry, because anything with even a little jasmine acts like it is actually demonically possessed by the jasmine of doom one it touches my skin. I suspect she'll be good with that, though, because she told me in general she likes florals better than spice or musk--and she always complemented me when I'm wearing jasmine, even if I'm feeling slightly embarassed by the blasting excess of it.

 

I would have to strongly second clover's rec of Euphrosyne- it is creamy and lovely, and Euphrosyne is the Gratiae/Charity of mirth, I think!

 

Le Serpent Qui Danse is another good gardenia, but unless she hates roses and loves violets, I'd really lean towards Euphrosyne... then again, I love Euphrosyne. :D

 

Thank you for the second, Cordia! I'm a little wary of Le Serpent because of my personal experiences with violets, but maybe it would work out better for her. I adore roses! And she says she loves them too, she just tends to observe I smell like a funeral home or bug spray when I wear them. :P Still, Euphrosyne is first in the running. Whoohoo!!

 

Mom needs more mirth in her life, I'd say.

 

EDITED because something went all wonky...

Edited by whitemyrrh

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I'll third Euphrosyne; it's a very lovely, traditional gardenia. My personal favorite gardenia, though, is The Lady of Shalott. In my opinion, it has a lighter, fresher feel than Euphrosyne due to the ginger and light musk, and is utterly gorgeous. I recommend getting ahold of samples of both, so maybe you and your mother won't have to fight. :P

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a quick fourth for Euphronsyne. I used to wear a "Gardenia" essential oil (not up to BPAL standards), and Euphronsyne is Gardenia at its very very best to my nose.

Absolutely lovely.

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Another voice in the pro-Euphrosyne chorus. If you love gardenia you will LOVE Euphrosyne. I used to wear gardenia oil from TerraNova and I find Euphrosyne is even better and more gardenia-y.

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i also wanna second, magnolias and gardenias look so much alike, do they smell the same or similiar? magnolias are one of my fave flowers.

 

blood countess, i can't remember if i mentioned it, is a more purple gardenia (from the lilac, fruit and musky notes)

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