Diana

And There Was A Great Cry In Egypt, Arthur Hacker.Dark myrrh, white sandalwood, amber, hyssop, frankincense, honey, cypress, red musk, cardamom and saffron. In the bottle: It smells pretty cologne-y. A bit astringent, but it smells pretty masculine and strong, like sharp woods & frankincense. Wet: It's fairly the same as the bottle. I can smell resins & woodsy notes. It's not as strong going on as I would have expected. Initial drydown: This starts to soften up a bit, but also fade somewhat as well. I can start to detect the saffron and sandalwood more easily, but this is not as strong as I'd like. It is really pretty, like a mixture of rare spices and resins you'd expect to come out of Northern Africa & the Middle East. Drydown: This reminds me a bit of Scherezade, but much, much softer, gentler, and more complex. This is so exquisite, and I'm so very glad it's not a Limited Edition scent. It is akin to taking masculine, typically strong notes, and toning them down to a soft, delicate fragrance. I'm not really getting the cardamom or honey as detectable, individual notes, but there is an overall vague sweet & spice thing going on. There's a bit of the woodsy notes lingering, and just a very tiny wisp of the musk, resins and saffron (I saffron!). I really love this a lot. It was really worth the extra cost for a 5mL bottle. And, I think with a bit of aging, the notes will develop and become stronger, and this will make me swoon even more. edited to add imge - clover

Thanatopsis is great, but that is already on your list. I'd also throw in Omen and Nocnitsa.

I got a wet stage of Samhain feel from it, if you could blend it with a berry note. But you might think way differently. Still, some of the Halloween scents that just went up might be a good place to start. I saw some comparisons to Blood Moon (which might be futile), Red Phoenix, and Blockbuster in the reviews thread. Some current scents that might be in the save vein, both from Carnavale Diabolique: Tiresias, The Androgyne : Dark, moody, and bittersweet: black currant, patchouli, tobacco, cinnamon leaf, caramel, muguet, and red sandalwood. This went super woodsy on me personally, but maybe it will work for you. The Phantom Calliope : Ghostly, glowing, sweet and dark: black cherry, patchouli, cassis, cardamom and verbena.

I regret not getting this sooner. It is a perfect summer scent, and on top of that, it is amazingly wonderful. It reminds me a bit of Machu Picchu--it has a very fresh, airy quality to it, but it's so much "juicier," for lack of a better word. It's very green, but not in an herbal/grassy way... it just seems like it would project a neon green aura around you. And the musks. Oh the musks. I am a huge fan of them, and this blend provides no exception. They round out the scent and give it a long lasting, sweet aroma, with a really nice throw. I was very surprised at how long this lasted... I could still easily detect it after all day at work! Very pleased!

I'll echo thatthis is very similar to Dee, but a little less heavy. It's got a wonderful wood & leather aroma, and as it dries, it softens up and becomes a dead sexy, musk scent. Rowr.

On application, this scent is really spicy—kind of like a spice rack. It's kind of abrasive & aggressive rather than a comforting smell, but not unpleasant. As it dries, the musk notes take over and it becomes a long-lasting sweet musk scent that is just gorgeous. Perfect.

I'd also throw Nuit into that list, and if you can find it, the Limited Editon scent Evening Star.

http://www.bpal.org/index.php?showtopic=26287 <-- this thread may have some recommendations for you personally, i would recommend Zephyr, Embalming Fluid, and possibly Phantasm. Oh, and Dorian, definitely. there is a bit of a problem with lemon, however. since it's classified as a top note, it rarely provides a long-lasting scent.

To me this is very reminiscent of Al Azif. It's got the same incensey-resin base. The coconut isn't terribly pronounced, but it does add a nice note to the blend. There is a dry, almost musty base to it, probably the combination of musk + orris + sandalwood. But it's so very lovely. If you like Al Azif, Midnight Mass, or warmer resins, give this a try. I am very happy it's a GC scent!

There are a couple of useful links in the pinned recommendations. =) http://www.bpal.org/index.php?act=ST&f=10&t=1607 <-- "clean" scent thread http://www.bpal.org/index.php?showtopic=3755 <-- "gentle/light" scent thread http://www.bpal.org/index.php?showtopic=480 <--- "spring-type" scent thread http://www.bpal.org/index.php?showtopic=21004 <--- "aquatic" scent thread I think those four categories will help! At least, I hope so.

Scherezade kind of works, I think.

I'd recommend looking through the pinned recommendation categories: http://www.bpal.org/index.php?showtopic=13371&hl=sweet <--- this one should give you a bunch of recommendations! =)

Black & Red Musks are also great, dark scents. Fenris Wolf is amazing, as is Scherezade and Dragon's Musk. Other sexy dark ones: Nifilheim, Torture King (if you can get it), Voodoo, Burial, and Nocnitsa.

I am freaking out that I only have about a day left to order the Sephiroth & Tarots I still want/need. I have 14 of the 26 tarot oils, but I don't know if it would be wise to order 12 bottles, especially since I'm trying to clear out all my debt right now. I've kind of narrowed it down to 6 bottles (Chariot, Hermit, Justice, Devil, Tower, Ace of Swords) but that's still a lot. Maybe I can get it down to about 3 and just get an imp pack so that I can at least have a wee bit of the missing ones. As for the Sephiroth, there are about 3 I still want (Hod, Golachab, Gamaliel), and about 3 I could live without, but I'm eh about them (Geburah, A'Arab Zaraq, Nahemoth). I also want to get a backup Chokmah. Anything remotely Snake Oil-ish is something that I need in mass quantities. eieieieeeee decisions.

Malkuth smelled like spiced oatmeal cookies to me, at least in the wet stage. IIRC, it turned a bit incensey in the drydown. That is probably the closest one, unless peach + cedar can be considered foody, then I'd also throw in Chesed. Most of the others are spice/resin/floral.

here are the labels: as far scents, pruno is like a very orangey-booze-fruit punch scent. i agree the closest thing would be the hamptons or possibly swank, but not really. this has much more punch. no pun intended. privilege smells almost like some of the slightly aquatic men's scents to me. i can't place it, though. i suck at this game.

wet: oddly sweet. since this is presumably made with high john the conqueror root, it thought it would smell more herbal or earthy. dry: still very sweet. it almost has a suntan lotion kind of aroma to it, oddly enough. i have a high john the conqueror root--it doesn't smell at all like this. it's not a bad scent; to the contrary—i really like it a lot. but this is one that would probably get relegated to perfume (which, yes it is), and not be used for its magical qualities. or i'll wear it and hope for a lot of good luck. heh. i just can't get over the smell and relate it to the actual root enough to use it as anointing oil. but i'll probably get a bottle of this eventually.

wet: lemon candy dry: the citrusy note is completely gone, but there's a herbal/woodsy note left behind. not too much punch, but pretty all the same.

wet: powdery neroli dry: a dry, nondescript floral; slightly woodsy, a bit of musk. it's nice but a little too soft for my tastes.

wet: pale indeed. it's fairly faint, but there's a bit of a citrus note that i can detect, and just a hint of vetiver dry: this is so incredibly amazing. it's clean, fresh, slightly manly. but absolutely no throw. I'd be all over a 5mL if I could smell it other than when my nose is pressed directly up against it.

this just got discontinued, and it's one that i've always wondered about... wet: wet, dewy florals, a little ozoney. it reminds me a bit of neo-tokyo (which is obvious given the common ingredient disappearing act). dry: dry woodsy notes, fresh airy notes. it's very lovely! too bad it's discontinued. it's one of the few vaguely-ozone scents that have ever appealed to me. so very pretty!

it's funny how almost every review smells something different. wet: soft spices, a little sweet dry: turned mostly floral with a touch of a resin. almost like a rose incense, but a little too heavy on the rose. oddly, i don't get any citrus from this at all. i wonder if my nose is broken. at any rate, judging from this particular imp, it's nice, but not something i'd want in a large quantity.

wet: sweet, milky caramel & coconut dry: still sweet, reminds me a lot of spooky, minus the mint. for some reason i swapped away my bottle. i guess this goes back on the wishlist. it is teh awesome.

Hmm. The chocolate in Tezcatilpoca didn't last on me at all, so I didn't get that connection. However, I did think that Intrigue reminded me quite a bit of Cerberus, as did Great Sword of War to a lesser extent.

trying to get back on track here... Elegba wet: sweet, milky caramel & coconut dry: still sweet, reminds me a lot of spooky minus the mint. for some reason i swapped away my bottle. i guess this goes back on the wishlist. Cairo wet: soft spices, a little sweet dry: turned mostly floral with a touch of a resin. almost like a rose incense, but a little too heavy on the rose. Arachne this just got discontinued, and it's one that i've always wondered about... wet: wet, dewy florals, a little ozoney dry: dry woodsy notes, fresh airy notes. it's very lovely! too bad it's discontinued. it's one of the few vaguely-ozone scents that have ever appealed to me. Death on a Pale Horse wet: pale indeed. it's fairly faint, but there's a bit of a citrus note that i can detect, and just a hint of vetiver dry: this is so incredibly amazing. it's clean, fresh, slightly manly. but absolutely no throw. I'd be all over a 5mL if I could smell it apart from when my nose is pressed up against it. Desire wet: powdery neroli dry: dry, nondescript floral; slightly woodsy, a bit of musk. it's nice but a little too soft for my tastes. Polyhymnia wet: lemon candy dry: the citrusy note is completely gone, but there's a herbal/woodsy note left behind. not too much punch, but pretty all the same. High John the Conqueror wet: oddly sweet. since this is presumably made with high john the conqueror root, it thought it would smell more herbal or earthy. dry: still very sweet. it almost has a suntan lotion kind of aroma to it, oddly enough. i have a high john the conqueror root--it doesn't smell at all like this. it's not a bad scent, but this is one that would probably get relegated to perfume, and not be used for its magical qualities. it doesn't remind me enough of the real root for my brain to make the connection.