ViolentKitten

I love Snake Oil and Hollywood Babylon! Other ones I like are:

Dragon's Milk - Yummy sweet cherries with vanilla. The cherry is not too sweet or medicine-like at all. Dry down is musky and warm.

Fae - Gorgeous white light. The white musk mixes beautifully with the bergamot, heliotrope, peach and oakmoss.

Spellbound - Beautiful roses, kind of incensy...love this one.

Dana O'Shee - Warm, soft, and comforting. Smells just like dry oats with honey.

Velvet - sandalwood warmed by cocoa vanilla & a veil of deep myrrh - sort of woody chocolate on me, definitely velvety.

Lust - sexy red musk and with patchouli, ylang ylang and myrrh - love it

Imp - earthy peach - white peach, amber, golden musk and patchouli.

Tamora - soft and sensual floral peach w deep warm, vanilla bean.

Umbra – Dry spicy sweetness of cinnamon which goes a bit candy musk on me mixing with a gorgeous patchouli and cedarwood.

Fenris Wolf – Gorgeous unisex blend of rosewood, amber, red musk & red sandalwood. Sweet and dry.

Some of these aren't in quite the same vein as Snake and Hollywood, but definitely worth a try!

I agree with allamanda on the ones with Red Musk, quite a few of my faves have the gorgeous Red Musk! Fenris Wolf has it and uses it in yet another way to Spellbound, Lust and Hollywood.

I agree with Vicious Mistress and Hypothermya: try scents with similar notes and also get single notes (sandalwood, amber, different musks) if you can too. I've been doing this over the past year and am slowly (very slowly!) getting a bit more of a nose for notes. I inadvertently got red musk in a few things in my first order and not only managed to find out what it smelt like, but that I love it! It's in a few of my faves: Fenris Wolf, Spellbound, Lust and Hollywood Babylon.

See if you can get your mitts on Essence & Alchemy by Mandy Aftel. It's a wonderful book which describes the history of perfumery, rituals, how to create it and many other lovely bits and bobs; but most importantly fantastic descriptions of the many essential oils that are used in natural perfumery - base notes (musk, vetiver, patchouli etc), heart notes (tuberose, jasmine, orange flower etc) and headnotes (lavender, pink grapefruit, spearmint etc) and it describes how they smell. Although everyone's interpretation is slightly different and there's nothing like smelling the real thing, it very much helps having the descriptions in conjunction with smelling them. Though I try to get a feel for it myself first and write that down before I read the description.

A couple of sites that might help too with identifying some notes:

Holistic Shop

Perfume 2000 Essential Oils

She smiles at you coquettishly…her long, dark eyelashes all aflutter. You're intrigued, drawn in by that sugary sweetness and something else you can't quite explain. You move in closer, and suddenly you're caught. Trapped within a deep thick sweetness tinged with mysterious spices and incense...

Snake Oil is really that kind of delight for me: from a distance it’s a soft spiced powdery sweetness, but up close it’s sultry, thick and intoxicating. It’s almost overwhelming, but not quite. My man loves it on me, and my sister too, who said that it’s very nag champa like, nice, but a bit too strong for her. But sitting at arms length from me she kept getting a whiff of something and said it smelt really lovely…it was me! It’s just so intriguing, I get that sweet spicy incense, but also I’m sometimes reminded of hot cinnamon toast with melty butter and a steaming cup of creamy Chai tea…but it’s not obviously foody. Finally, the dry-down is soft sugared spices and dry incense. It’s tantalisingly sexy and confident, yet deliciously comforting as well.

I feel I have a light green glittery aura about me when I wear Envy. At first it’s quite herbal and medicinal, but not so much you think you’re wearing a healing salve. With a good deep sniff, I can just about distinguish each scent, though the lime seems to be there just in a small measure. I’m not sure what the green herbs are, but they remind me a little of tomato vine. It’s a different story with my man…his first response was that it was very floral, he thought he could smell roses! He also said it smelt sexy which surprised me, I guess because when I smell it up close, Envy reminds me of being a youngster. I couldn’t think of what part until I read other reviews, but yup, possibly sitting in the sun with mum while she was pulling plants or herbs out of their pots and smelling them all mingled in your hand. And there is that touch of earth that comes out with the roots…somewhat like the bitterness that simmers within envy, but it never overpowers the scent, it remains light and bright and it really does glitter! It’s a bit too green for me, but it is nice and well blended. It would make a very refreshing home scent too!

Wet, this has got the peanut butter in it from Velvet - I think that would be the hazelnut. But that’s where the comparison ends. This is a spicy sweet one, but not at all in a syrupy way, with the sweet almond making a strong appearance along with the honey mead and rum, giving it that spicy kick. It takes an hour or two for the buttercream to soften that bite which keeps spiking my nose. I want to say it’s sharp, but it’s not quite. Eventually, it becomes smoother, like hot buttered rum (though I wouldn’t object to a bit more buttercream ). It doesn't seem overly boozy, but I’m sitting here starting to feel a wee bit intoxicated…I might need a fried egg butty for my hangover... Hmmm, it’s also reminding me of a soap…a bit like Honey I Washed the Kids, but not as soft and without the slightly floral aspect I get in HIWTK. This one lasts quite a while too, especially at its last stage of dry spiced sugar with honey and rum. It feels very adult due to all the booze - lock this one up in the liquor cabinet! - and would also go great on a man I think…very warming. Hellcat’s not a fave of mine, but it is lovely and it’s definitely a by-the-open-fire-in-a-loungeroom-decked-out-in-ye-olde-mahogany-furniture-with-a-mug-of-hot-buttered-rum-in-your-hands scent!

Tasty! ...Wet, this is bright, bold, fruity...very edible. I mostly smell the mandarin and orange, but also blueberries, strawberries and a teeny hint of spice. Hmmmm, it smells just like a big bag of boiled lollies!! I can't help thinking of a little kid, fingers all sticky with a guilty look from over-indulging in said sweeties. The fig is there, but it goes from a touch of spice to a soft muskiness. And that's what the drydown is on me too: a soft musky orange, which disappears in about an hour. All up, it's a lovely happy scent, but I keep feeling that it's missing something, so it's not quite for me.

Definite chocolate hazelnut in the bottle. Just like dipping your fingers into a jar of Nutella, taking a mouthwatering sniff, then licking your fingers clean. On my skin, at turns it's smoky dark cooking chocolate with a touch of soft hazelnut, then it’s thick crunchy peanut butter. Mmmm, it’s good. And intriguing, because it manages to be foody yet not foody. Especially, after a couple of hours when the soft sandalwood and sweet and slightly bitter myrrh come to the fore and it’s like fresh pencil shavings mixed with the darkest chocolate slivers with a touch of nuttiness in the background. Not one I wear often, but a velvety scent indeed, which I keep getting soft hints of as it lazily drifts up to my nostrils throughout the day.

Thank you Violetta!!!_

The Custom scent is such a great idea! But I hope you find some scents in Beths' current selection too...so much to explore!!! Heehee, I hope your attendants do like Imp, it's so lovely!!

I thought of something for the boys...I was wearing/reviewing Umbra last night and read AnimeKitten's review of it:

Quote:

"What I imagine every time I sniff my wrist is a warm summers day in a forest, preparing for a storm. The sun is beating down, the scent from the soaked earth is rising, the air is muggy and waterlogged and everything just smells and feel ready to break free in a torrent of warm rain and lightining."

Not that I'd want it to rain on your day or anything like that! But the forest description sounds so lovely! Though the name doesn't quite suit your theme maybe. Anyway, my thoughts on it are a bit different, but I can definitely imagine the forest thing too when I sniff it. Maybe worth an Imp?

Crunchy peanut butter! Wood!

Then suddenly they're gone and I'm 10 years old, in the spare room at my Grandparent's house; sitting by the old wooden drawers with a handful of tiny pink musk candies. That's exactly what it smells like to me: distinct cedar of old wooden drawers (dusty in a good way) and candy musk (at least that's how the cinnamon goes to my nose, or maybe it's the patchouli mixing with it). Memories of my Grandma’s kitchen and sitting in the lougeroom with Grandad reading history books....This is such a vivid scent for me and one of the reasons I’m so addicted to Beth’s magical concoctions. And it's not just memories with this scent, it smells good! The vetiver I think is what gives it that nuttyness at the beginning, but it quickly blends in with the patchouli (which I couldn't really smell at first, but I had a comment that the patchouli was very pleasantly distinct, but not an overly earthy patchouli). They then blend in with cedarwood and cinnamon seamlessly, to create a drydown that's a softly spicy dry cinnamon wood with a hint of sweetness. I'm surprised how much I like it actually, because Umbra was one Beth chose for me! My man really likes it too, said he finds it really...ahem...anyway, he thinks it's really nice! I can imagine it on him too.

Wet, all the notes are perfectly showing their beauty: the rosewood in it's sweet rosy wood glory, the spicy resinous amber, sweet red musk and the soft woody sweetness of sandalwood balancing it out. In this stage, I'm ever so slightly reminded of Snake Oil, but Fenris is totally without the round sugary slightly syrupy feel Snake Oil has. As it begins to dry down, it becomes a slightly dusty and warm rosewood complimented mostly by the sweetness of the musk. It’s just gorgeous and makes me think of a huge highly polished dining table with high-backed chairs in an old but well-kept house. The sun is shining through the window and warming the wood. Finally, it becomes a dry, slightly sweet rosewood. I don’t find it overly masculine, but it would be nice on a man (in fact, I do find it nice as I tried it on mine) if not a bit sweet, which would very probably add to its allure! I very much like Fenris Wolf...it wraps itself around me in an oh so very elegant, sometimes serene, yet undeniably sensual way.

I can't think of anything right now, except Fae...as soon as I saw the title of your thread I thought it would be perfect on a fairy bride..that's if you like it of course! But it really does smell so ethereal. And Imp and Tamora too, could be great for a bride or the maidens, but I'm thinking more along the lines of how they smell, very lovely woodland fairy like, but the names might not suit. Can't think of anything for the boys at present, but look forward to seeing what you finally choose!!

Tiger Lily.

 

I've not even gotten mine. But I want a Tiger Lily Soap *nods*

 

Pele

Kali

Scarecrow

Queen of Sheba

 

Again, not tried them really yet, but I can imagine these would be divine as soaps.

Ooh yeah, TygherRayn I agree...and I've not tried them either!! They're all on my list for my next order, except for Scarecrow. Others....hmmm...

Lust, Lust, Lust!!!

Spellbound

Hollywood Babylon

Tamora

What a gorgeous bathing experience it would be!!!

Fresh and foody – delish!!! At first, a touch herbally – lemon verbena and a touch of mint? I feel refreshed! About 15 minutes later, my man smelt it on my neck and said, “Mmmmm! What is that? Sugary…foody…” I mentioned lemon and he said, “That’s it, lemon sherbert!” And he was right, the bright sweetness of lemon sherbert, with fresh coconut shavings starting to emerge. I took another sniff and my mouth was watering! Another comment in the office was that it was like coconut lemon cheesecake…he sits a few metres from me, so I think the sillage must be good – at first anyway, it does seem to soften quite a bit after an hour or so. Finally, it becomes a cakey lemon coconut tart like I used to get from a Chinese bakery, which brings back lovely memories for me. Gorgeously invigorating and comforting!

Magical Beth strikes again!!!

Tiger Lily and The Unicorn purely on names alone - I must have. But the notes also sound gorgeous!

Rest well Beth and best of luck with the move tomorrow!!

Fantastic!!!! Thank you Nella!!!

Yippee! I'm so glad it worked! Have a great trip and fun reading!!!

What? Nooooo. I don't do crazy obsessed things like that. Will PM you!

Heya! Thank you for the update and have a wonderful break!!!

Holy crap Beth! That is one AMAZING update !!! And I'm just in awe of all the new scents you have coming up letalone the new ones!!! You really, REALLY deserve that break! As for reduced Imps... *hopelessly tries to crush urge to make another order when already has one on the way and no money* gahhhhh!

Oh my oh my oh my. Oh Beth...how COULD you!?! Reading the descriptions is a pleasure, but choosing the scents I want to try is going to be nightmare - they all sound incredible! KALI is one that is especially calling my name... But I've already got half of them on my "want want" spreadsheet, in addition to about 50 others....eeeek!!!

I noticed the Desire thing too Andrabell, I think I'd like both versions!!

For sweet ones, my man thought Hollywood Babylon smelt like strawberry incense. And Dragon's Milk too.

hmmmm, this mightn't be the result you're after, but you could try mixing either:

Maenad: sweet strawberry and orange blossom distorted by carnation, black poppy and hibiscus.

or Hollywood Babylon: Egyptian amber and heliotrope, infused with the sweetness of strawberry and vanilla - dragged into debauch by lusty red musk and a dribble of black cherry. ~~ I don't get alot of strawberry from HB though.

or even the single note stawberry...

with Bliss or Vice or even Velvet? It would depend on your friend's taste as they're all variations on a themes. Maybe the single note and bliss would be the best mix? I'm not sure as I haven't smelt those ones, but it does sound good!

The outside of my Imps I think is mostly a combination of Haunted (some of it spilt), Spellbound, Hollywood Babylon and Lust.

At first this is very sweet and round with just a touch of earthiness. Definitely some dirt in there, and the sweetness...it's like a wet licked lollipop dropped in the dirt. And it doesn't smell as unattractive as that sounds. After a while though, the myrrh emerges giving it a beautiful smoky edge. And then the amber begins to bring a touch of spice and powder with the sandalwood softly rounding it out. I keep getting images of women dressed in colourful silks dashing through shadows down dimly fire-lit corridors. A very evocative scent indeed.