Diana

Wet: Fruity fruit fruit. Very candy-like pear. Drydown: This is still very sweet. The wine/pear & floral notes are almost penicillin-tangy on me, but not too tart and not too sickly, sticky sweet. As it dries, more of the floral notes come in and make it even more tolerable, which is odd since floral blends usually turn me off. It's just so cute! Not something I could see myself wearing, but totally something I'd pass off to my 15 year-old neice.

Wet: Grape candy! There's a bit of a dry herbal note to it as well. Drydown: the grape smells like bubblegum. The herbal note, whatever it could have been, has almost gone, but there's a tinge of it left that's keeping the grape note from being too overwhelming. It's almost got a wine-like quality to it at this point, but it's subdued. This is an odd blend! It's not sweet, but it's not purely herbal either. I'm just confused. This is one I'd get if I were to use it with ritual connotations rather than to wear as perfume.

DCCVI I think this might be my most favorite Chaos Theory ever. Wet: Lemony. Maybe lemon verbena or lemon balm or some other lemony herb. But bright, happy citrus (which I love) is the overwhelming note. But! There's also a vanilla musk in there! WHOA. Score! Drydown: This is so pretty. It's kind of similar to La Fee Verte, actually, but with much longer-lasting citrus notes. Sooooo nice, sweet, creamy, slightly vanilla/slightly lemony. I am in total love with this blend! edited because bad grammar makes me cry.

There are no TAL imps from the lab. Check for Yemeya in the Excolo section of the BPAL site.

(This is a picture of Machu Picchu I took on 8 June 2006.) I got a few imps of this to wear for my then-approaching trip to Peru. I wanted to mentally prepare myself for the trip by wearing a scent that I could associate with that time & place. Wet: It's bright floral-fruity. It's almost lemony. Sweet, sunshiney, very yellow in my mind. Drydown: The lemony aspect dries down a lot, leaving a sweetened ambery scent. Not the usual heavier, powdery amber, but a lighter, softer one, layered with a soft-breathy floral/fruit note. I've tried this both as an atomizer spray & as straight oil; neither formulation lasts more than about 2-3 hours on me. Throw: the throw is good while it is still wet, and in early dry-down stages, but it tends to fade after a short time. Verdict: I really enjoy this scent. While the actual Machu Picchu didn't really smell like much at all, wearing this scent now brings me back to standing on the huge site, and climbing up Waynapicchu (the hulking mountain next to the site), sweating off much of the scent in the process. It also reminds me of the gorgeous orchids in some of the gardens in Machu Picchu. Though the gardens didn't have a discernable smell, I tried to pretend it smelled like the oil. Heh. This oil also reminds me of insane near-death bus rides in the Andes, hikes in the middle of nowhere, and how happy & lucky I was to be able to experience such a beautiful and amazing place. This is truly my "happy scent."

There's a foody-recommendation thread here, which is probably some help!

This is very lovely. The main note on me is honey. Though I do get occasional whiffs of orange blossom, it isn't very strong at all. The sandalwood note blends really well with the honey and deepens it and gives it a slightly spicier/woodsy attribute. I can't honestly detect roses at all. This is soft & romantic & pretty. Yum.

This is way more impressive and awesome than I can have ever expected. It's sweet, slightly tart, mouthwatering, refreshing, and pretty. I think the combination of sugared ginger + sugar with the delicate sweet-tart grapefruit and really soft woodsy musks is amazing. I have no idea what Ti or Ho Wood (though that brings several bad images to mind), the overall effect is so wonderful, clean, crisp, juicy, sweet. I love sweet. I love cute. This is such a winner.

DIX (yes, I'm twelve, and this bottle is now known as "dicks") In the bottle, it's very faint. A little medicinal, but not too much going on scent-wise. Wet: very very pale woods & herbs, and a little light musk going on. This reminds me a whole lot of Yggdrasil, but it's not very strong, and there isn't much throw at all. Drydown: this wasn't very strong to begin with, so it's faded quite a bit. It's a clean/herbal, vaguely sweet, but there's a note in there which I cannot identify. This note is in some other oil, which of course I cannot remember, but it smells slightly bitter. Thankfully it isn't a major component. The drydown is mostly soft woods. I do like this, but I wish this were a lot stronger. I think it will age well, so I'm going to leave this one to brew for a bit to see if that impacts the throw or complexity. And FWIW, this tastes really gross.

The combination of sharp citrus & soft lavender is quite strange; neither overpowers the other, and the result is a powdery-tart sweetness. It reminds me a bit of King of Hearts in this respect, but with grapefruit instead of cherry. I don't think it was all that particularly long-lasting, but that could be partially due to the extreme heat & sweating happening in this part of the country. At any rate, it's a pleasant and cute scent.

Almost, but not quite. I think the difference is in how the essential oil is extracted. One is steam distilled, the other is something else, but I cannot remember. Maybe enfleurage? I'm sure someone knows better than I. I can't remember Vixen too well, but Masquerade was very orange blossom, making a spicy-floral; Ravenous was plasticy-patchouli on me. From what I remember, Seraglio was super orange blossom, if that helps you any in your quest.

If you like violet, I'd recommend Sybaris. It has the most amazing incensey drydown. Other incensey type blends: Dee, Cathedral, URD!!!, Anne Bonny, Sri Lanka

If you like Dior "Hypnotic Poison," you might like Hamadryad If you like Bill Blass "Nude," you might like Black Opal. If you like Thierry Mugler "Angel," you might like Xiuhtecuhtli. If you like BBW "Toasted Hazelnut," you might like Hymn to Proserpine. If you like Demeter "Dirt," you might like Zombi. If you like Lucky Chick "Mimosa, Jasmine, & Violet" products, you might like Yemeya. If you like Aqualina "Pink Sugar," you might like Pink Moon. If you like any of Jessica Simpson's "Dessert" products, you might like Eat Me, Drink Me, Monsterbait: Closet, Monsterbait: Underbed, Gluttony, or Beaver Moon. If you like Sephora "Relaxing Blue," you might like House of Mirrors.

They have a similar vanilla note, only GP has a wood base note instead of patchouli. And I find Bow & Crown of Conquest to be similar to Golden Priapus, so that also might be worth a try. I also found Blood Kiss to be similar to Snake Oil, but you'd have to contend with vetiver instead of the patchouli note. Chokmah is almost a dead ringer for Snake Oil. I don't know if it has patchouli in it, but it's also got sassafras, which lightens it up quite a bit.

This goes on kind of aquatic, probably from the bamboo, and has a bit of a citrusy tinge to it, probably from the juniper. It dries down to a soft, slightly woodsy, slightly "clean" scent. It is a lot more delicate, but longwearing, than I'd think. It is pretty unisex; the ingredients are traditionally masculine, but nothing is overwhelming or particularly strong. It's really lovely, and I hope I can find a suitable substitute in the General Catalogue. And for what it's worth, no crazy birds followed me around, screaming, while waiting for my soul to escape while wearing this blend.

The lust incense of a corrupted Astarte. A blend of ritual herbs and dark resins, shot through with three gingers and aphrodisiacal spices. Wet application: very spicy ginger, but also warm, just-baked gingerbread. Drydown: this lasts and lasts all day. The aroma doesn't really change much over the course of the day, just the intensity. The resins play a quiet background note which serve to deepend & intensify the gingery goodness. Yummy & beautiful.

This doesn't change much at all from bottle -> wet -> drydown. It really is the scent of rugged, raw leather. It isn't as soft & refined as De Sade. This isn't fancy leather jackets and pants from a store. This is going to the western store and digging through leather scraps, surrounded by dusty leather goods of all types. Amazingly accurate. Yee-haw.

Malkuth & Chokmah have some similarities, I think. Neither is dead on, but they both have incensey-fruity qualities to them, and they're both quite pretty. Some people though Khajaruho was similar, but that was LE too.

Oddly enough, this smells a like like Budding Moon on me. In the bottle & wet, it's mostly bamboo & cherry blossom. Slightly fruity in that flower->fruit kind of way, with the tiniest touch of aquatic undertones. It almost smells like apples. Drydown: It's a clean, sweetish scent. It stayed mostly bamboo/tea/cherry blossom on me. I didn't really get any dragon's blood at all. Unusual for me, since I can normally detect that note very easily. It definitely reminds me of Budding Moon, just less green and much softer.

I liked Wanda for the wine/rose/leather notes. My favorite boozy perfume is Perversion.

In the bottle, it smells softly lemony with just a hint of powdery softness. Wet: It is more lemony, but it is not very strong or sharp. There is a sweetness mixed in which kind of makes this like a powdery lemon meringue. Mmm. Drydown: This becomes less citrusy, more powdery, more sweet, more musky. Gorgeous. I find this to be quite similar to Dorian in that zesty-soft musk way, but minus the sweet tea note. The cotton blossom and clover add a soft "clean" backdrop, which is not what I'd associate with typical floral notes. This is my favorite Enraged anything so far.

Some people likened it to Dorian, but I didn't really get that so much, personally. I don't think there's anything really comparable to Usher in the general catalog, but you might try layering Utrennyaya or another light mint scent with Dorian, Embalming Fluid, or another light citrus-tea type blend.

Wet: sweet, but herbal Dry: Peach pits, or possibly peaches and wood notes. Lovely! There aren't too many peach scents in the catalog, so this makes me very happy. This one smells just like the ripe fruit, skin on, standing in pretty pyramids at the grocery store, with just a hint of a warm red sandalwood or cedar as the basenote. Wowza. I am going to need a bottle of this!

Wet: smells almost leathery with a bit of resin or spice added Dry: Powdery, but kind of spicy still. It's like men's cologne made into a dusting powder. A bit later it goes more powdery, and it has an odd sweetness to it that I'm somehow associating with Froot Loops. Yes, my wierd scent associations make this out to smell like fruity cereal & dusting powder. I think I will have to pass.

Wet: sweet cinnamon, like oatmeal cookies Dry: still a sweet cinnamon, but sort of incensey now. It's drier in odor, and a bit less sweet. It reminds me of the scent of Samhain in the bottle, before all the woodsy-leafy-apple notes come out. It also reminds me of the herb & incense booth at the Maryland Renaissance Festival. It is really pretty! Another one for the bottle list!