tacey

Oooh! I love the Grindhouse, but I never thought about that being magnolia - I usually remember the 'florentine iris', despite having no other clue what iris might smell like. Good suggestion!

Or Yvaine - lavender and magnolia.

And this thread would be a great place to get more names of citrus-containing BPALs of all sorts! Personally, my favorite citrus scents are LE (so not available from the lab anymore), but you might check out Hunger (Black narcissus, orange blossoms, and vanilla.) I know I liked it a lot, but I can't recall offhand how strongly orange it was...

I also love Lady Lilith. While there's nothing I really think is all that similar, I just realized this week that Two Loves and Three Brides give somewhat the same feel -- even Copper Phoenix, I would put in the same family. YMMV, of course. And I completely fail at helping, because that's one Salon and two LEs... Two Loves: Love beyond reach: sunset tones of amber, red musk, and blood orange with three chains of roses, velvet moss, white lilies, crocuses, violets, poppies, blue musk, neroli, angel's trumpet, frankincense, benzoin, and night-blooming flowers. Three Brides: Moroccan rose, king mandarin, red sandalwood, Egyptian amber, orchid, carnation, benzoin, tonka, calla lily, vanilla flower. Copper Phoenix: Rose-infused dark amber, with sweet orange, honey, cardamom, patchouli, apricot, pink pepper, and red sandalwood.

Very pretty jasmine with an edge of honey -- almost an earthy honey. Super strong jasmine, but that's how it does on my skin, normally. Maybe a green background?

So, much to my own surprise, I fell flat in love with The Arrival at the Sabbath and Homage to the Devil and its caramel richness. I didn't think I was a foody lover. Now I've used up my imp and I'm about to get a bottle. However, I wonder if I actually want more caramel than just that. Could anyone help me with a direct comparison of some currently available caramel scents? I'm particularly tempted by the ones listed below, but I'd be happy to consider other possibilities if I missed something. The Arrival at the Sabbath and Homage to the Devil: Bourbon vanilla, benzoin, caramel, Mysore sandalwood, aged black patchouli, carnation, and iris florentina. Tiresias, the Androgyne: Dark, moody, and bittersweet: black currant, patchouli, tobacco, cinnamon leaf, caramel, muguet, and red sandalwood. Agrat-Bat-Mahlaht: Amber, cream accord, white honey, apple blossom, skin musk, caramel, and teak. How similar are these going to be? Different enough to demand more than one? I'm nervous of the apple notes -- I don't really want to think about caramel apples when I smell it. I did love Poisoned Apple when I tried that, though. On me, Arrival is very prominently caramel, but the sandalwood and iris are both detectable -- I'm pretty sure everything is there, in fact, but it swirls me around so much I really only notice the obvious. (And now we see how the BPAL multiplies -- from one caramel to another to another... and on into my NEXT note exploration. )

I tried this one without having the notes handy -- I vaguely remembered there being tea and something floral -- so my first impression was just of the whole scent. I'm terrible at notes without clues. That said, I don't detect any jasmine (which tends to take over for me) or recognizable rose. There's something that I think is rose, now that I know it's there -- a soft, wet rose, but it's quite subtle. This one captures the artwork perfectly. I sense gossamer fabrics, palely pink and purple and yellow. There's a gentle breeze from outside bringing in a faint herbal fragrance (the tea, perhaps?). It's very soft and relaxing, perfect for a woman alone thinking peaceful, happy thoughts. It's not overtly sexy, but the light touch of those delicate fabrics could quickly become so... ETA: And I just received a compliment on this one! Co-worker noticed my office smells nice. She thought maybe gardenia, so the florals are coming out, but it's certainly not rose-heavy.

I had put off reviewing this one, hoping for a better answer. But Pepper has been sitting quietly in a drawer for several months now, and I still get nothing but pink pepper as a scent. It's certainly pink pepper, not black pepper, and I keep trying to talk myself into something underneath it (and I keep somehow mistaking pepper for caramel -- not sure how that's happening). But - on skin and in my locket - all I really smell is pink pepper. No florals at all.

Frankincense is definitely the dominate note for me, but I get some patch/cocoa and perhaps thyme as well -- slightly reminiscent of Wulric the Wolfman. For now, I do prefer Wulric, but as I wear it, the frank seems to be mellowing (slooooowwly) and it does have potential for some manly sexiness to come out. Not really masculine, but deep and dirty. I like, but I'm not loving yet. No juniper for me, which is very very good! ETA: Second day wearing, trying to make up my mind. On my skin, this really just frankincense -- maybe a drift of some other things, but very subtly. It's a masculine frank -- a bit edgy and very very dry. I wear a scent locket most of the time now, however, and the scent there is quite different (yup, that's why I wear a locket). The locket is dark cocoa like woah! Definitely showing signs of those other notes, but cocoa in the lead. I keep thinking it reminds me of Tezcatlipoca, but it's a different cocoa, I think -- dark and dry, and less foody than Tez. That said, Tez is not at all foody after the first blast, and I really like the incense/leather/florals from Tez. If I'm looking for a manly cocoa, I don't think Enyalios is ever likely to win over Wulric or Tez...

I just had to post this -- and a HUUUUGGGGGEEEEEEEEE thank you to Morrea at the top of the thread for her reply! I just got a giant box of BPAL -- lots of bottles, a Salon II imp pack, and many freebies. But when I opened up the shipping box, the first thing that hit my nose wasn't the usual rich BPAL smell -- I got smacked with licorice! I'm sure there was more there -- it's a big box! -- but I'm...very sensitive. To licorice. It's...just not nice. So this was a very bad situation -- wherever that smell was coming from, the source was going to have to go! After opening many imps and very reluctantly checking my bottles for licorice (please not my pretty Lupers!), it dawned on me to find this thread for some likely imps to focus on (imp thumb is starting up, so I wanted a shortcut). Lo and behold, the very first reply: Black Anise Annis. I should have known! My licorice culprit is identified and locked away, to be given up to a loving home -- NOT MINE!

I recognized both ladies after looking them up again -- I think I've just never been looking for a tea scent, so while they've caught my eye, I tend to say 'But that's not my kind of thing' and pass on. Clearly, I shop on impulse at BPAL! I'm certainly not afraid of un-impables, so I'm glad you didn't censor yourself. I think Clemence, at the least, is worth risking...

I think the milk keeps scaring me off White Rabbit. If I ignore that word, the rest of the notes look beautiful. Adding this to my list of imps to try. I may have only tried Tweedledee and skipped Tweedledum -- not sure how I missed this. I LOVE fig! I'll have to check reviews on Gennivre -- I had it in my head that she was heavy on the honey and mint, but if it's more tea-heavy, could be worth the risk. Interesting one! I don't hate florals at all, really -- I'm just trying to explore tea on its own, I guess. And Clemence sounds gorgeous! I don't recognize it all! Another for my list. And another blend I feel like I've never heard of -- thanks so much! Off to reviews. My next order will have some exploring to do... [ETA - Ah ha! From the Pharmacopia! I've never paid much attention to that category. I'm glad you did, though!]

Does anyone have suggestions for non-floral tea scents? Especially black tea, but I'm open to other possibilities. I'm wearing The Apothecary today and it just really struck my mood right -- clear and fresh with some depth. I think the ginger/fig is keeping it grounded, but it's mainly tea and dry herbs to my nose. What else might have a similar experience? It seems like most of the tea scents are either super-spicy or paired with florals, but I'm sure I've missed a few.

The Lights of Men's Lives is waxy/smokey, if that counts...: The wax and smoke of millions upon millions of candles illuminating the walls of Death’s shadowy cave: some tall, straight, and strong, blazing with the fire of life, others dim and guttering. Very much the scent of an old-fashioned taper.

Add me to the list of people who turn Snow White into Play Dough. It started out as sweet coconut (not something I care for, actually), and within 20 mins or so went all playdoughy. And pretty soon after that, the playdough went rancid...

This smells a lot like the 2008 Yule There's a Certain Slant of Light, to me. They both have that cool, watery sunlight feeling -- chilly amber, apparently. Not really my thing, either time, but quite nice. Very delicate.

This is a disaster on my skin -- a chemically, play-doughy mess. I didn't like it much to start with -- the wine note hit me wrong, I think -- but it's completely unwearable.

A little disappointing, but I mostly get mint out of this. And it's not really saying 'cold' to me, either. It's just mint -- keeps going rather sweet, actually, which is interesting. Maybe a touch of the frank behind the mints, but I don't notice any other notes. It doesn't last well on my skin at all, but in the scent locket it's holding up nicely. For mint, that is...

That's a regular GC -- here's the review thread: Hymn. A paean to true holiness, spiritual purity, and sacred enlightenment. Based on an incense blend sacred to the Virgin Mary: perfect rose absolute and Palestinian Lily of the Valley with olibanum, labdanum, frankincense and myrrh. ETA: Wow! Triple simul-post!

I'm having trouble with the wine note in this one. I was really looking forward to her, but there's a medicinal edge that I just can't get over. Might try again in a couple weeks, but unless it changes, I won't be keeping my decant... ETA 2/19/2010: I found this decant in the bottom of my swaps pile, and I thought I'd give her another try. There's still a sense of wine, but it's much plummier now and not medicinal at all. There's something lovely and dark behind the plum and fruit that I'm really digging, too. Not sure about a bottle yet, but this is looking awfully intriguing now!

From your subject line, I thought of Yvaine and Silence (one of the Salons), neither impable. As I read through the replies here, though, I think that VitaminA is on the right track -- the uplifting scent will be very personal. Something that connects to a place or a memory or even a symbol. For me, it might be some of the 'churchy' blends like Rose Cross or Blasphemare Reliquary. Something that moves your mind into those paths, rather than a literal active agent. Am I making sense? At any rate, I'm glad you asked the question, and I think this conversation has changed how I'll be looking at certain scents. Thanks. tacey

This is very strange, but I'm not getting ANY rose. Lots of buttery pumpkin, a hint of the rosewood (pretty red sweetness! just a drift of it). Maybe some softness from the sandalwood, but I wouldn't put money on it. I don't often care for tea rose, so this is not a bad thing, but it's very surprising in light of the reviews above. YMMV... Sweetly pretty, but nothing spectacular.

Really, I just want to echo the love for Aeronwen -- one of my favorite scents. Unfortunately, I haven't found anything that's very close -- and I've been exploring the 'fig' scents for a little while now. I think the black musk + fig + orange + (small amt of) myrrh is an unusual blend. It *is* still available for purchase on the Lab site, though, so I would encourage anyone loving it to buy direct.

Wow, that's a lotta red musk! Sexy and intense, but overshadowing everything else, to my nose. I get hints of the black currant and a bit of the florals (not sure which -- doesn't quite smell like any them alone, so it might be the combination). No patchouli?? I like it, but I'd like it much better with a stronger presence from a few of the supporting notes. I'll try this one again in a couple of weeks and see if my perception changes at all.

This is my first try for a pumpkin blend, and I was pleased. The pumpkin is round and wet and fruity, but not in-your-face-pumkin-pie. The brown musk was beautiful, and the honey and almond danced over everything adding sweetness and depth. Really nice. This didn't last very well on my skin, but I really enjoyed it.