Myrrha

I have a bottle of Sanctus. It smells strongly of what I take to be osmanthus, an apricot-y scent. The Lily of the Valley is only a whisper brightening the scent and the whole thing along on frankincense. I have sometimes thought that there must be some unlisted apricot oil in this as it smells so strongly of apricot. Before I bought the bottle I had a decant and at one point I misplaced the decant. For a month I kept coming across traces of the apricot/osmanthus scent on the air but couldn't find the darn imp. It finally turned up among some papers but that shows how tenacious this scent is.

So pretty! On wet -- tuberose and possibly white sandalwood come out first and combine into a high white fairly dry floral scent. At this stage it feels formal like a serious fairy woman in a long grayish-white gown. As it dries a sweetish aspect like honey comes out (vanilla and cassis blossom?) and the tuberose interacts with this greener, sweeter side of the fragrance. Sometimes I can't smell white sandalwood properly but here I thinking is a giving a delicate crumbly quality to the tuberose. After 45 minutes to an hour it is much less formal and begins to feel like a scent I could wear with jeans and a blouse. The fairy woman has finished her duties in the high fairy council and is walking in the orchards playfully with her love. Playful, but always with a shadow of delicacy and reserve. Although it is a light scent I could smell it in the air when I left the room and came back. Haunting and lovely. Ultimately not a bottle scent for me though. If you like white florals give this a try.

Gingerbread right off the bat.... and I"m thinking I can't possibly wear this as a perfume. After about 15 minutes a musky base comes out. After about 30 minutes it becomes sharper, less sweet, with a resinous, herbal quality. At this point it is darker and the gingerbread is more in the background. It is more wearable. Edit: as it dries down I like it more and more. the buttery baking aspect lessens and the ritual herbs and spices come out more. Still not sure I like it as much as some other BPALs. It could be a good cheerer-upper in the winter so I will hold on to the imp.

I have worn this one several times, decant is aged from when the vamp scents first came out. When it was fresh I didn't like this very much as some dirty, earthy note in it seemed too masculine. Now, it has more powdery sweetness, from both the myrrh and the Spanish moss. Lilac and wisteria are not really distinguishable but once the scent is dry they add a pale purple sheen to the background. I love the calm, planty aspect to Silenti, and the subtle florals in the background. It is an introspective scent rather than being seductive or trying to make an impact on others. It reminds me of long walks in Mount Auburn Cemetery when I was writing a paper on funerary iconography for art history class. I will look for more scents with Spanish moss. I am not sure about the powdery quality lent by the myrrh. Definitely need another decant of this.

On wet: a burst of lemony- melony juiciness, then the delicate slightly powdery orris As it dries the lemony quality passes quickly and that juicy part of the scent blends with sandalwood and orris Dry: I can only smell it if I put my nose right to my wrist. Delicate and feminine without seeming to try too hard. Reminds me of a rice powder paper scent. I can also detect the musk and I don't really like the way it smells. It is too soft for me, too dry and airy. I think delicate sandalwood might be one of my olfactory blind spots because I had the same trouble with Tristesse de la Lune. It just doesn't smell like much to me.

Fresh frimp from the lab- thanks! Wet: I would think this has some elemi in it. I can smell that lemony, high sour tang. Mostly it is wood, I can definitely smell the teak. As it dries it sweetens, must be the vanilla. The lemony sour note lessens considerably within five minutes or so. It is smelling like cake would smell if it were made of wood. I don't like it on me at this stage. Dry: sweet wood, cigar boxes! Yummy and interesting but not something I want to smell like. It conjures the picture of a nice man in a library with lots of wooden furniture.

I liked Skuld quite a bit but didn't think it was really wearable for everyday use. Against Idleness and Mischief is a more relaxed honey note blended well with chamomile. The chamomile is a not to floral-ish floral. I love the hyssop, green herbal note which saves the scent from being too warm and cloying. This is lovely and wearable if you like simple, less obtrusive scents. I will definitely be ordering another imp of this, I feel tempted to buy a bottle but want to try more of the honey and beeswax scents. It doesn't change much from wet to dry except that the chamomile and hyssop notes come out more and balance out the sweet honey. Edit: on second thought this might be too gentle and clean for me. I need a little oomph and mystery in a scent.

Lab frimp - thanks labbies! Wet- sweet with quite a bit of woodyness in the background. As it dries - something men's cologne-ish comes out and gets stronger. After about five minutes this note calms down a bit and I recognize it as juniper. So now there is fruit sweetness (must be the red musk) plus juniper and smooth wood. When it first dries I like the juniper. Not something I really would like to smell like but a nice comforting scent. Completely dry- I can smell the lflowers now but they are not prominent. Juniper has blended in to the point where I can't really pick it out any more. Something has gone slightly powdery, probably the sandalwood. It smells like there is some cinnamon in here, something spicy. So, a sweet musky slightly floral scent with a sort of "hidden fire" underneath. This is softer than some red musk scents. Unfortunately this is just not working well with my chemistry (red musk rarely does). After a while the distinctive elements of the scent provided my the juniper, wood, and hint of spice in the background go away and I am left with a soft, grape-y purple floral. This might be nice for someone who likes warm but soft florals but doesn't want to smell like typical florals if that makes sense.

I hadn't tried this one before because of some reviews saying it was a more masculine scent which isn't what I usually like. This is truly a fabulous scent though, many thanks to Tramp for the frimp. Wet- lovely golden beeswax and a wood-like scent, and yes I can smell the brass. It is definitely a golden scent. Drying- herbal notes, something that reminds me of pagan rituals from back when I was more ritually inclined, beeswax and honey. It gets sweeter and less wood-like. With the beeswax and frankincense this is a bit like St. Foutin de Vareilles without the wine and roses. Dry (about 40 minutes), it is mostly beeswax/honeycomb and benzoin with frankincense and the herbal notes supporting. I LOVE this. It is sweet and rich but the benzoin is cool. It makes me feel activated and purposeful. Right now I am wearing a teal colored sweater and feel like this perfume doesn't "go". I would wear this with black, brown, gray, maybe white. The part of me that likes this is the same part of me that likes The Little Wooden Doll and Chimera although they smell quite different. This is not a scent I would wear when I want to feel most feminine but it isn't too masculine once it dries down.

When first applied this was pretty awful on me. The sandalwood was harsh and sour and the tea smelled sharp like lemon. After 20 minutes the sandalwood, peach and champaca had blended into something very nice. A rich smooth scent with the tea brightening it. At this phase I would have said it is a sandalwood scent with peach and champaca enriching it but the champaca takes over and after 45 minutes it is a champaca scent with sandalwood and peach supporting. Champaca is an incense-y, soft floral that seems to drape itself over everything like a rich hippie doing languid yoga poses in velvet bell bottoms. Sometime later the champaca-sandalwood goes a bit thin and sour. I'm glad I got to try this one and it may be that it would work better on someone else due to skin chemistry.

On wet, the lotus has that slightly medicinal, bitter aspect to it. It reminds me of Sea of Tranquility. As it dries it becomes a lovely, reserved floral scent. I look for the different parts and kinds of lotus that are in it and there is a fleshy or pulpy scent that could be the lotus root or could be the amber interacting with other ingredients. Dry it is an amazing delicate floral scent, more dry than sweet, when I sniff my wrist directly (which I do often because it is so gorgeous and interesting). After about 40 minutes it seems to disappear when I sniff my wrist but I can still smell it wafting around me in a slight cloud of delicate scent. It is slightly richer now and there is a tiny bit of sweetness from the fruit. To me it smells elegant and pretty, bluish-white or silvery in tone.

Starts off as a lovely red musk scent. The vanilla and currant modulate the red musk rather than being stand out notes. As it dries I notice the patchouli more and the earthy chypre grounding everything. The patchouli is one of the sweeter ones, or the red musk is making it slightly sweet. I agree with the previous poster who mentioned that some of the notes combine to give an impression similar to pipe tobacco. It does smell more masculine. On the other hand I would not find such a sweet scent attractive on a man. Maybe best for a man who is very in touch with his feminine side. In spite of the patchouli this is not a "hippy" scent, there is something refined and well-groomed about it.

Peach, apricot, nectarine, these always seem kind of innocently sexy to me because something about the smell of these fruits is reminiscent of skin. This reminds me of The Temptation, that same pastel gilded apricot and delicate vanilla. It is truly gorgeous. On my skin it lasted about four hours. On my second test I put on more but it smelled a bit sharp close up so maybe wearing less and reapplying after a few hours is a better idea. It is lovely but I'm not sure yet that it is for me.

This is difficult to describe which is probably why I haven't gotten around to reviewing it before. I liked it when I first bought it but then in subsequent years I kept trying to wear it in the late spring and summer since it is such a light scent. It doesn't work well for me in warm weather as the sweet notes become cloying and the green notes somehow "scratchy" and annoying. I've worn it often in January and February and it is really lovely-- glad I didn't trade it. Wet -- Green, I can smell green notes, reminiscent of a plant. There is something else with a sweet/bitter quality, like a SweetTart candy. Drying -- The plant is blooming and strange greeny-yallery flowers appear Dry -- More flowers, and that almost fizzy bitter/sweet quality. The flowers are probably linden flowers but somehow not just fresh linden, more florist shop than that. after 3+ hours -- The sweetness is mostly gone, it is a light greenish white floral feminine perfume, more like a traditional perfume than many BPALs.

Thanks to the lab for this frimp- I might never have tried this based on the reviews but I can see it becoming a favorite. Tuberose tuberose tuberose! The reviews for this one have surprised me with people picking up jasmine and other florals, spicy notes and so forth. On me it is tuberose at first, there might be peach, something making the tuberose a little bit golden. Once it dries there is a hint of that herbalness that underlies many of the voodoo scents. The slightly peachy "golden" aspect of the scent is stronger. I LOVE this! More than the tiniest dab is too much. It has a lot of throw and staying power. Reminds me of a Guerlain scent, Jardins de Bagatelle, although Has No Hanna is not as warm smelling and seems a bit more delicate (at least when applied sparingly). It really does seem to be lifting my spirits. I would say I need a bottle but since the merest speck is all you need to be well scented a bottle might be overkill. Edit: my imp is over a year old, maybe the scent smells much different fresh.

I love this one! Tested right out of the mailbox and only put on a small amount so I'll come back and change this if my impression changes after further testing. Wet: the florist rose is most predominant with an overlay of orris (smells violet-like on me). I thought at first I wouldn't like this as the impression is a bit overly elegant and tame. As it dries: the myrrh gives it more depth. The pomegranate and rose blend together and add up to something more interesting. I can smell a woody note in there somewhere, and the merest hint of something spicy. Dry (two hours): For a while when I was outside in the cold I thought it was too light but indoors it has bloomed again and is just amazingly good. Rose/violet (or "purple roses") with depth. When I sniff my wrist directly the myrrh (i think it is the myrrh) gives it a sexier vibe.

How are people enjoying the scents that were recommended to them? The adjectives people came up with from my self-description were: serious, elusive, ephemeral, poetic, dramatic. Of the scents recommended to me I LOVE Black Lotus and also liked Ether for the hot days this summer. I haven't been able to try Rome yet. Paris I had tried before and it was OK but felt a little bubbly for me. Venice I did like but not as much as Black Lotus. Just wondering how other people made out with their recs.

Wet: Vanilla, something creamy and sweet. Probably amber. As it dries: There is a hint of sandalwood but blended into the vanilla. A really interesting note appears, it is like if you took beeswax and turned the honey aspect way down and then added salt to that. It sounds weird but smells very good, I’m guessing this is the ambergris accord. For about ten minutes it adds interest to the vanilla notes and this is an amazingly lovely golden vanilla fragrance. Dry: An aquatic note appears and the ambergris accord gets stronger. It becomes sharper, more of a cologne note. The cologne smells a bit strange with the lovely vanilla part of the scent. I do not like it at this stage, it is too cologne-y. After about a half hour it fades and the scent is now a pretty golden vanilla/sandalwood/amber scent but very faint.

Wet: yum! Tart fruit As it dries: The vanilla base comes out and it is a little strange because the fruits seem separate from the vanilla, as if I’m wearing two separate scents. It is delicious and I can’t stop smelling my wrist. Dry: A little bit of spice comes out and the scent blends more now, so it is a fruity/spicy/vanilla. It is an absolutely wonderful scent. However I would like it better if I didn’t have to put my nose to my wrist in order to smell it. I tested the throw and it is about three inches. It got even fainter after an hour. If this were stronger I might buy a bottle.

French Love is crazy strong with good throw and lasts a long time. I have to be careful not to put more than a drop or two on at one time. It has dragon's blood in it though which smells very different on different people. Event Horizon is strong, the throw is medium but people can smell me from 3-4 feet away when I wear it and it lasts a long time. Dia de Los Muertos is another one that I have to only put on a couple of drops and can still smell me at a distance. Lasts well too and is gorgeous.

Oh dear, I had such hopes for this one. Wet: a blast of red musk. It is very strong and there is a cherry smell with it. The cherry plus red musk is not a nice smell at all and reminds me of public bathroom deodorizer. Almond and anise come out as secondary notes. I love almond but it is really overwhelmed by the other notes. As it dries: The red musk lightens to tolerable levels, the almond disappears and for about 20 minutes it smells like fruity red musk with a twist of anise which is interesting but not something I want to smell like. Dry: Straight fruity red musk. The fruit note is no longer recognizable as cherry. I am starting to think I should just avoid the strong red musk scents. It is probably much nicer on someone with a different skin chemistry.

Wet: At first there is a bit of green along with the coconut and fig As it dries: The green gets lighter. It is mostly gentle almond, coconut and fig. Dry: Sweet but not cloying. I like it very much but it seems very light on me. I can only smell it when I put my nose up against my wrist and I put two dips of the wand on my wrists. I may try again with another imp.

I tried this again after falling in love with Vice to see if I like it better than the first time I tried it. Wet: The chocolate note is sweeter than the chocolate in Vice. I like it. As it dries: The vanilla, a soft creamy note, and the Snake Oil (sort of like Shalimar) come out and waft around. Dry: Unfortunately the rich chocolate note fades quite a bit and I'm left with something like Shalimar but sweeter and rounder. It smells OK, but not really wonderful. Other reviews have said there is patchouli in this and usually I don't like patchouli at all but here it must be blended in really well because I don't notice it. Is there tobacco in this? It reminds me of those chocolate cigarettes. Very little throw, medium lasting power. This is one that I can imagine other people might think it smells like baby powder.

oops! duplicate post

Maybe Florence or Venice? Both of these really smelled like scents from another time to me and might be nice to smell while you listen to renaissance music. Rosalind or others in the Ilyria section might appeal to you. Dragon's Reverie or Dragon's Heart might be nice for your cubicle. If you put a few drops on a paper towel and put that near your computer you will be able to smell it but it won't scent up the whole place. The part about colorful 60's and 70's clothing, bright colors and frou-frou is paradoxical, maybe Queen Alice? It is a bit quirky but still somehow serious. That part about not standing out enough... if you could find something that is very distinctive but also quite wearable, something not attention-getting in the snake oil sense but that people will remember, and then wear it frequently you might feel more unique. Blue jeans dressed up with jackets and boots... so many would go with that. Have you tried Haramise? It seemed really distinctive and elegant to me but chestnut isn't for everybody. Have you tried Chimera? The part about dark colors feeling cozier made me think of it. It is a comforting cinnamon scent made into a perfume with myrrh. Others that might seem cozy and comfortable are Dragon's Heart (although on some people the dragon's blood can be a bit attention-getting), Yvaine (comforting for those who find lavender relaxing and very much an introverted scent). The Apothecary might go with your outdoor hobbies and it would smell nice without attracting a lot of attention. I think there is tea in it. The part about your artwork and illustration made me think of The Tree of Knowedge of Good and Evil. It is complex and sort of subdued and bright at the same time. It is fruity but the fruits aren't really recognizable. Something creative about it. You will need a bunch of scents anyway since you get bored easily. For me: I'm pretty introverted. I do warm up a bit with friends but often would rather be alone. I like to talk and think about serious things, like the next world, spiritual life, finding meaning in life, but I'm not intellectual or academic. I try to lighten up a bit and I do appreciate humor in other people. I draw and paint but am not a professional artist. I love tarot, renaissance illuminations, calligraphy, angels, indoor plants. I listen almost exclusively to opera and metal, especially the heavy, dark slow styles. I am very polite (a great defense) and try to be kind to other people but it is difficult sometimes. Beauty is important to me, both in the abstract sense and in trying to look my best. I often feel unsuccessful at this. I have chin length curly dark brown/black hair and brown eyes, wear mostly black, grey, blue, dark magenta, jeans almost all the time with blouses or nice t-shirts and jewelry. Any recommendations appreciated.