orata

Ergh. This was gross. I suspected this wouldn't work for me based on the notes and now I'm sure. If you're a fan of pumpkin or caramel scents, though, you'll love this--it smelled like strong, craft store candle-spicy pumpkin plus sickeningly sweet, overpowering caramel on my skin. I don't smell the leather and dust--maybe the tobacco, a tiny bit, adding a bit of sharpness to the scent. Too sweet, too pumpkin-y.

I put some on and it smelled identical to my memory of Dorian, but when I did an actual side-by-side of the two, Dorian was definitely sweeter and more lemony. But it has the same sort of sweet, pale-musky, vanillic fougere base as Dorian. The drydown adds a fabulous light smoky leather note. It's similar enough to Dorian that I'm not running out to buy a bottle (I have a decant and that should do me fine for a while) but I'd be hard pressed to say which would win in the inevitable deathmatch; I really like the fresh lemony note in Dorian, but also really like that soft leather drydown in Jareth. Anyway, it's really lovely and I'm glad it's in the GC!

Maybe my nose is broken. I get a sharp, harsh, musky rose from this--doesn't really smell like lemon to me.

How about Sara Pezzini, Tobacco Honey, Pussy Moth, or The Ta-Ta?

The embodiment of Victorian funereal elegance. A delicate sugar-spun vanilla cream cotton, stained by tobacco and incense smoke, Indian musk, and drops of cognac. I got a bottle of the original version and I love it SO MUCH. On me, it's a cool, dry, clear vanilla-linen scent--I don't really get smokiness/tobacco/cognac or booziness at all. Just simple (but with depth) and clean. I can see a certain similarity to White Rabbit if that scent didn't have so much else going on, or to Boo if you subtracted all the sugar and cream. It's less floral/fruity than Dirty. I actually associate it more with Harikata and Opuhi in terms of mood--it feels like a clean, "white" scent to me (go figure), almost powdery/perfumey, like freshly washed and starched sheets. Cool and comforting, good throw and longevity.

I love this--so warm and woodsy. Atlas can be too strong and long-lasting for me sometimes, but if I'm in the right mood for it, it's like a warm, comforting fluffy blanket of scent. Vetiver can easily ruin scents for me, but in this case, it's present but not overwhelming for me; the vetiver and wood darken and balance the sweet vanilla-ish coffee marshmallow scent to make a cloud of something sweet, but distinctly dry, not foody or creamy.

I just got Marcilla in a swap and it feels perfect right now--light fruity florals!

This scent is beautiful! I passed by it at first and then later it grew on me, and I decided I needed to pick up more. In Perfumes: The A-Z Guide, Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez write "Great perfumery accords are like dominoes: when juxtaposed, the materials must have a number in common. In the case of lavender and coumarin [in a fougere], it is a herbaceous, green, inedible, soapy character. In the other directions, lavender has a fresh, thyme-like character and coumarin a sweet, powdery, vanilla biscuit one." The heart of My Sweetest Lesbia is the osmanthus note, which is a prominent, sweet apricot-floral: to quote the same book, "an unforgettable soapy apricot-suede smell." The number it has in common with the hay absolute and catnip is a mouthwateringly green freshness, slightly citrus-tinged; in the other direction, the ambergris and Egyptian musk combines with the soapy-floral quality of the osmanthus note to make it smell absolutely fresh and clean, with a slight salty note, like just-showered skin. The sweet, fruity apricot part of the osmanthus note floats above it all in the middle of the scent like the middle of a major chord, and keeps it from smelling too herbal. Cool, clean, fresh, lovely.

The lavender in this is really, really sharp--has a harsh, herbal aspect to it that takes over the blend for me. I can smell dark blackcurrant and smoky champaca in the background of the scent, but the lavender feels almost like it's burning my throat when I smell this. Not soapy--but not for me.

I was so sure I'd like this from the "it's sweet and pink!" Will Call descriptions and the fact that I generally like all the notes in it--I ordered a bottle unsniffed. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts to like this, it ended up always striking me as just kind of a dirty-smelling, somewhat fake strawberry, like an air freshener or the strawberry shisha mentioned upthread.

Bengal!

Blossoms in Springtime snagged me a compliment at work and was the only bottle I went for (and kept). Warm, floaty, resinous, rich vanilla goodness. (Playful Wooden Mallets and Body, Remember seem to be the other runaway hits, but I thought they were both just OK--not amazing.) I had a lot of "like but not love"s this time--Speckled Pink Kimono, Before the Snowy Window, My Sweetest Lesbia, Entangled, The First Encounter. From the Post, the Bittersweet Chocolate Massage Oil is as fantastic as everyone has been saying, and Aphrodite Kypria atmo spray does smell like spicy cinnamon wonderfulness. I ordered both of them unsniffed and wasn't sorry!

Love it! And I'm surprised that I do, since I normally have a sweet tooth when it comes to scents. At first I thought this smelled gross and musty, but I skin tested it and enjoyed it a lot. To me, this is a dark, soft, cleanly earthy fig scent with a touch of greenery and smoky incense. The earthiness is very clean, if that makes sense--not the mildew musty vibe I can get from strong patchouli. Maybe dried fig rather than sweet and juicy--but fragrant and addictive and deep.

I hadn't touched some of these in months, but with spring and warm weather I'm craving them! Dormouse, Gennivre, Strawberry Moon, embalming Fluid...

I just realized I find it kind of similar to Muse of the Night from last Halloween--heavy white florals + a fruity dark note. You might give that a shot if you can (seems like LE bottles are easier to hunt down than discontinued GCs)...

Look for OPS instead!

I got a bottle of this unsniffed but I can't quite see what all the fuss is about. I get almost all black musk and not much cinnamon if any at all, and something about the musk reminds me of my grandma's bathroom. Vaguely dirty and powdery. I get the Haunted vibe, but I think I like Haunted slightly better overall so far! I'm hanging onto a decant for at least a little while, because I suspect aging is going to change the scent, but I certainly don't need a whole bottle of it.

I almost didn't buy this because I figured "I have Snake Oil perfume, isn't that enough?" Plus it's expensive! But I decided to get it on the sheer force of the reviews and it ended up being my absolute favorite thing out of my recent BPTP order! (Even more than the Bittersweet Chocolate Massage Oil, which is also delectable and wonderful.) I use it as a moisturizer and am rewarded with soft, sweet Snake Oil vanilla wafts from my skin as I move around during the day. While it is definitely Snake Oil-scented, I find it softer, sweeter, cleaner, and not as sharp/medicinal as Snake Oil perfume (which can have an almost camphor smell at first), and while it lingers on the skin all day, the throw is less aggressive. I love it so much.

I only had a second-hand imp, so it may have gone bad at some point, but I didn't like Bon Vivant at all, but really liked both Mango Lychee and Sangria Champagne. I didn't find it fizzy like the Champagnes, and it smelled kind of overly sweet/fake to me.

Some people compare Goblin to BB--the patchouli note is similar, but it lacks that yummy vanilla and hemp. I've had better luck with a perfume from another company (that's alcohol-based) that I found quite similar. Maybe you could layer Goblin with something vanilla-y--Tombstone?

Some people compare Goblin to BB--the patchouli note is similar, but it lacks that yummy vanilla and hemp. I've had better luck with a perfume from another company (that's alcohol-based) that I found quite similar. Maybe you could layer Goblin with something vanilla-y--Tombstone?

Osmanthus, honey, golden musk, vanilla flower, and ginger. ...and off bpalscentsual's bottle went, to me, and I am so pleased with it! I wasn't impressed at first but the second time I tested it, I fell in love. It reminds me strongly of The Harp of Cnoc I'Chosgair in feel, even if they don't share any notes but vanilla--a creamy, golden vanilla-musky skin scent with just a touch of florals and greenness. The notes are well blended for me, although osmanthus is slightly more prominent in the mix. So good! I just love it.

...and off bpalscentsual's bottle went, to me, and I am so pleased with it! I wasn't impressed at first but the second time I tested it, I fell in love. It reminds me strongly of The Harp of Cnoc I'Chosgair in feel, even if they don't share any notes but vanilla--a creamy, golden vanilla-musky skin scent with just a touch of florals and greenness. The notes are well blended for me, although osmanthus is slightly more prominent in the mix. So good! I just love it.

...and off bpalscentsual's bottle went, to me, and I am so pleased with it! I wasn't impressed at first but the second time I tested it, I fell in love. It reminds me strongly of The Harp of Cnoc I'Chosgair in feel, even if they don't share any notes but vanilla--a creamy, golden vanilla-musky skin scent with just a touch of florals and greenness. The notes are well blended for me, although osmanthus is slightly more prominent in the mix. So good! I just love it.

...and off bpalscentsual's bottle went, to me, and I am so pleased with it! I wasn't impressed at first but the second time I tested it, I fell in love. It reminds me strongly of The Harp of Cnoc I'Chosgair in feel, even if they don't share any notes but vanilla--a creamy, golden vanilla-musky skin scent with just a touch of florals and greenness. The notes are well blended for me, although osmanthus is slightly more prominent in the mix. So good! I just love it.