soonyi

i am looking for a smoke scent that is similar to Liz. i love Lulu and i want to layer it with something that has a smoke/tobacco note to make it alittle more sexy.

i love that you put the scent descriptions under the photos too. it's helps me to further fantasize about what the scents are like after i see the artwork. thanks for posting!!

wow thanks Tempest and TereFaerie for your replies...you gave a lot of great suggestions for me to peruse thru!

has anyone come across a bpal scent similar to the light woody patchouli scent in aromaco? i bought a six pack of patchouli-based imps based on the recs in the patchouli thread and they mostly turned too dark or 'red' for me.

oh crap, i have to go after slave1--i love her reviews

wet, this is fresh and slightly fizzy. black tea leaf is not as heavy as i would have thought--more like the weakness of earl grey w/o the soapy spice.

dry, ends up reminding me of the smell of barbie doll hair. yes, that's right. they would lightly scent those dolls and it was a distinct scent that i remember so sniffin this dry is a zap back to childhood. i didnt know what to expect from the wasabi and i still dont know if i smelled it.

out front and strong are the lavender and bergamot. thankfully, the lavender is not as sharp and offensive as it often is. leather is thinly underneath, its characteristic is strangely pungent and kinda like...er, um ass. this leather-ass note does dry off later. it all blends well together, but there is no real way i could see myseld reaching for this. it is too much like a spicy men's aftershave.

wet, bluebonnet and jasmine tea are most prominent, with mint/thyme behind it. that said, this is a very light and focused scent. not much throw or strength to it. I have to huff it pretty hard to capture its essence. i also dont get any currant or "red-ness" from this; it is soapy, limp and not a stand-out thus far.

dry, the currant does sorta come out in the warmth but the soapiness is enough of the character of this scentt that this it's not for me.

sniff, this is a dark mix of wood, mint and tea

the white mint is cool and ghostly. overall it reminds me of LUSH's mask of magnamity (sp) with a wood and calla lily undertone. the tea all but disappears. very mellow.

sniff from the bottle, definitely smell the black pepper and white ginger over the lilies. the mix together comes off like ink or fresh motor oil - interesting!

wet, the mix comes together to something pungent and stank like ass (is that the aspect of the painting this is supposed to invoke? ) . ugh no. this is NOT for me.

the chestnut is like a mix of sugar cane and the deeper, darker spices of a Christmas pomander. these spices are quickly inducing a headache, so i scrubbed it off--still i am glad i tried this one.

wet, the cinnamon is there-- which is usually a compact, sharp and unpowerful scent, is almost new: it's at the edges and gives a slight kick to the end of the scent. the sandalwood is morphing into that LUSH cupcake smell that i dont much like.

dry, the heart of this one is honey, the blood coursing thru is sandalwood. and sandalwood and i arent getting along these days. i think if this was aged it might do some interesting things.

origin: lab frimp

well, i must say that i hate patchouli, in large part cos when i smell it, it's all i can smell. and that is basically what To A Woman is to me, with a little rose on top. thanks but no.

i, too, got this as a lab frimp...

wet, i get a clying thick darkness of galbanum; so strong that it is choking me. galbanum is the sort of bitter, strong scent that is guaranteed to plunge me into migraine hell--'enough to kill this snake'. washed this OFF.

i got this as a lab frimp; this is something i have to say cos i dont think i would have ever ordered this...

wet, soft pink rose in puffy clouds draw me into a middle ground of Spanish moss (sarada's description is perfect: it's swampy) and the graveyard dirt core. this dirt is not fresh, it's drying and full of decayed matter. the moss makes the rose (very much like the rose in Parlement of Foules) cloying and annoying to my nose as it's such a contradiction to the rest of the dark earth scent. these are the roses drying on top of the lover's grave, buried long ago.

executed very well. just not for me.

wet, orange blossom toilette water--the neroli really contribute to the scent's weakness. mimosa is top note (a flower i love in nature) but just helps to make the rest of this rather sourly sweet and, gulp, disgusting for my taste. sorry it is not for me.

tis indeed 'clean' smelling. i get a bit of a plum note in here, kinda like kitsune-tski but not as strong. but mostly, it's like laundry detergent. honestly? it is an inoffensive and unremarkable scent to me...not really what i am looking for in my bpal...

first sniff: I saw lavender and immediately thought I would not like it but the leather is very strong and sorta sexy. I like it.

WET: the leather is so true, it is so fucking sexy! The cedar is barely there, supportive along with the sage and carnation all detectable but none of them in your face. there is also a pleasant sweetness to the overall blend. if there is lavender in it, i cant smell it cos the lab's lavender is wholly unkind to me (kinda like diaper ointment)

DRY: sexy leather, tinged by the sage (and its not a foody sort of sage, thankfully) mostly. all the other notes are there supportively but this is a definite bottle purchase!!

wet, i smell the cheapest dark red merlot and it is revolting me. this note is over a dark, dry, cracked leather, which is yummy. the body heat note is a good description for what i am smelling....it's kinda like Coyote without the gamey aspect. i get no flowers at all.

dry, the leather and musk really come out. the wine is gone (yay!). the more this dries th emore the leather comes out and it's a dirty boy, that one--dry and dark, almost the smell of cigarette smoke in the background. fuckin sexy. um, yeah. so i like it. alot.

wet, the mint and crystalline notes are alive and sharp, but don't break the skin. (despite the description's 'aquatic' note listing, i dont get any of that here, thankfully) very much like glass! the grapefruit --tangy and friendly-- is noticeably in back. so far i really like this

dry, the mint and crystalline notes dry off to the lotus coming up. after even more drying, the champagne warms up, with the grapefruit always present. grapefruit, done right, is one of my favorite scents and this is perfect. must have a bottle of this one!!!

sniffing from the imp, it is bright and fruity. out front is apple blossom and then fig. there are hints of peach in there too.

wet, cocoa! the mix of apple blossom (most prominent), thyme and sandalwood grounding the scent comes off as cocoa on me - and it is a light cococa, very similar to LUSH's cupcake out of the container (when i put cupcake on it smeels like mint to me). wow, funny what a mix!

dry, it is still cocoa. the honey comes out a little more to give this fullness and sweetness. i like this, but i wont be ordering more cos i dont really love foody smells.

now i learn it is black musk that triggers my headaches in the darker bpal scents. just sniffing this from the imp created a biochemical moan in my right temporal lobe. nevertheless, i press onward...

wet, oh god - yuck the black musk. it's curling my lips.. wash it off! i love you bpal, but black musk pushes my limits.

sniff: i smell bath and body works' white tea and ginger, a nice enough smell but not from bpal, surely?

wet, wow - this is so much different out of the imp! the ti leaf is way in back. the whole scent is very soft and light. i cant smell so much of the different notes, except that hibiscus is in front. thankfully i cannot smell too much of the osmanthus, which i find too cloyingly sweet.

this is not a strong fragrance for me.

ETA: after another wearing, it seems tha tthe osmanthus has come out again with its screeching sweetness and making this too soapy and mega-sweet for me.

wet, i get this foody vanilla-rice note that i didnt like in Oval Portrait. everything else sits in the background to this gross note. (sorry i am not a foody person)

dry, as this dries, the vanilla-rice note is less prominent but still there that its all i smell. not for me.

this one is simple on me...it has the noche buena florals top note over a very light incense smoke and beeswax. it doesnt morph and it is long-lasting and carries a strong throw. the plum and pimento (2 notes that drew me to it) are not really noticeable to me, but that's ok. i still like it very much.

i started testing this one while i was reading reviews for it, so i was not aware of what can happen with this one until it happened to me...

wet, oh this is gorgeous...honey musk and vanilla bean, that is exactly what i am smelling. the honey musk is the full note of this scent, a huge fluffy blanket that supports (and carries a strong throw for) the vanilla, under which the blackberry leaf comes out. the blackberry is similar to glasgow but it is much stronger than that, prolly made stronger by the green tea leaf, which usually goes sour on me. and fuck. oh no, please! i was loving this scent- i hate you, green tea. the green tea is coming alive and sour, marring the beauty of lady una.

...at about this time, i read slave1's review calling it the cat piss note and yes, that is what it is. urine de meow meow. ugh...

no matter, this one is so nice that i am going to have to get a scent locket to win it over. for those of you that can wear this scent without the tragedy that i experienced, thank your stars cos it is too beautiful to ignore. if the notes sound good to you, try a decant of it-it's worth it.