sqwook

Red musk-y goodness! I wasn't going to review because I didn't have *anything* new to add. For me, it's really great - since I already have full bottles of Snake Oil and Mme Moriarty, though, I think the imp will be enough for me.

BUT!

Wanted to let everyone know: At our meet-n-sniff this past weekend, there were multiple instances of this scent, and one was MUCH more in-your-face red musk (like approaching single note), and one was MUCH more mellow, smooth, creamy, honey. Both smelled good, yet they were quite different from each other.

Not nearly as dark - and much better - than I expected! The pine & verbena is great here, and the light musk, though it's fairly gender-neutral. So worth trying for us ladies but also FANTASTIC on a guy. None of the notes is too overwhelming, really excellent blend.

Reminds me of: Golden Priapus without the obvious vanilla. A more sweet-green, less spice Fascinum. Brighter than Antony (which is really way more powdery than I remembered). Brighter and more "green"(from the sage/pine/juniper/verbena) than Phoenix Steamworks.

The scent that seemed the most similar in feel was Bat-Woman, which I think has also been discontinued.

Have you tried Utrennyaya? It has mint instead of lavender to evoke a cool night-time feeling for me.

In the bottle: Green grassy hint of sweetness

First on: Drat, I am *not* getting "meadow" out of this - I'm getting tea-rose, bordering on soapy! Not sure how. I guess that when I'm not actively thinking "dandelion" that's what my brain compensates.

Random comparisons against other stuff I have & like: Against Little Bird, another green-floral, Little Bird has an almost-citrus to it that is way better. As is Litha - more rich, less thin and not going soapy. And Rosalind is brighter and not soapy.

Darn it, I had super-high hopes for another meadowy scent, and I'm bummed it doesnt' work on my skin!

I'm always a fan of Yggdrasil for the out-of-doors (though not necessarily for the lots-of-people component; I don't do outdoors-with-lots-of-people usually, so I don't have a predetermined bpal for that. )

I'd say these are good bets for a sweeter patchouli:

Clemence *Really great, though not impable

The Phantom Calliope *Also super-great, and also not impable

Anne Bonny

Hetairae

For me, I get a lot of pine (and no patchouli) from Illustrated Woman, and oakmoss is prominent in Greed. Though I like them both!

ETA: If you've got a natural foods store near you, like a co-op, or Whole Foods, or New Frontiers, or anything like that, you should be able to find Patchouli oil there if none of the bpals are as straight-patchouli as you'd like.

Some ideas:

Machu Picchu

AF25

Forbidden Fruit (note that it has jasmine)

Hanging Gardens

Litha (any year)

Fairy Market

Maybe Sunflower (for sunshineyness, though it's not as big a floral, and it's more late-summer outdoorsy), or perhaps Kali or Flora would give you this feeling (they're not solely floral but they're big and summery and warm with a floral component.)

Big florals, plus something behind it all that's adding sweetness - maybe sugar, and/or perhaps a fruit such as pear or apple or white peach. I definitely agree it's sophisticated & womanly especially for the first hour.

After it's fully dried down (an hour +) it's wonderful, reminds me of the dried-down Inez or Death & life completed, so perhaps amber, sandalwood, cedar, and/or carnation?

Smells like similar notes to what's in Peacocks or Les Bijoux, but it's much more lush-big-full, whereas Peacocks goes kind of subdued and all-mushed-together on me, and Les Bijoux is more honey and less floral-fruity.

(Also, I start to get self-conscious about my note-guessing, so Beth, should you read this, do not laugh at me! )

In the bottle: Sage-patchouli-leather, kind of masculine. (Not the sweet-orangy-patchouli, the rich-spicy kind. Or maybe it's even the sandalwood & not the patchouli I'm smelling.)

On: Leather-sage-sandalwood. Yes, sage & leather, and a bit of spice from the patchouli and sandalwood. I think "earthy" is just an adjective here, because I don't get any earth/soil scent at all. And for once, I can't even detect the lemongrass - that's definitely a first! I don't know if I myself can pull this off (maybe too masculine or forceful? or just too not-me for a perfume oil to wear?) but it's not bad at all, and reminding me of something I think, if only I could hinge on what. Because I'm kind of drawn to it.

Smells like hard honest work. Like a brawny guy splitting pine logs in a hot dry forest. (Not that there's pine in this.)

You know, it's kind of foresty actually.

With all the less-than-positive reviews above mine, I hesitate to admit that I think this one really warrants a full test on me to see if this foresty-ness bears out. I think it reminds me of walking through the evergreen forests in Flagstaff.

Lust, Hell's Belle, and Ravenous are all in the same family, to me. You might also like Mme Moriarty.

ETA: Also, if it really is your favorite scent, then it may be worth it to get a scent locket or put it in your hair where your skin chemistry won't change it.

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.

Lampades comes to mind - kind of introverted (and not flashy) but also dramatic at the same time. And it's beautiful! Oh, and I meant to add Black Lotus too. And maybe Salome.

bumping this thread to say: Helios !

Delicious ambery wonderfulness on me. Gaaahhhhhh.....

Oh my god.

This is an amazing, magnificent spiced amber. Warm, rich, thick, exotic.

I believe it must be the copal that's standing out most for me. This would be especially amazing in fall and winter, and it's pretty great even right now (spring). And I think it could work equally well for a man or a woman, somehow - that's usually not the case for most scents I like.

Ridiculously delicious ambery wonderfulness.

I think this is what I had always hoped The Lion would be (which I finally had to admit to myself always sours on my skin, much to my chagrin). This reminds me most of Jacob's Ladder, perhaps?

I'd get a bottle immediately if it weren't part of a set, so I'll have to ponder... how much money is in my dear little paypal?

Very nice! At first, a foody lemon- lemon meringue, or like Lemonheads candies.

Right after I put it on, it got a compliment from the DH who from a distance (interestingly) guessed Snake Oil, because the throw is more vanilla, whereas you get the lemon if you actively sniff.

Still very nice at the end of the day - and for a scent that starts out light & zingy, it really holds its own & has a depth to it somehow. Not just lemon verbena, though that's there too. It must be getting a good backing from the white amber,musk, and other notes.

The drydown actually reminds me of Cairo more than anything else -- which on me is a resiny lemon that I like very much. Skytyping is much much lighter in character, however.

Like!

ETA: And I will say yet again, "Incapacitating poofiness!" Best scent description ever.

Thanks for all your suggestions!

 

i have made some search and come across with these:

 

Habu: Snake Oil with ho wood, teak, black musk, and bamboo (i don't know how heavy is the bamboo note)

 

Fox Fires on New Year's Eve at the Garment Nettle Tree at Oji: Weeping cherry, watery bamboo pulp, nettle tree bark, green tea incense, soft musk, rice wine, and Japanese tree lilac.

 

Embalming Fluid : white musk, green tea, aloe and lemon. (It looks like a cool scent but i'm not fond of lemon very much so a bit afraid)

I used to be able to sense the aloe in EF in my imp, esp. when compared to other things; now when I wear it I get LEMON LEMON LEMON and some green tea. Which I LOVE, but if you don't love lemon this is not for you.

And yum on the "green scents" link - definitely check it out for lots of great ideas!

Hi! Some scents that are in this cool green aloe category (may not have aloe):

Phantom Queen

51

Envy

Squirting Cucumber

I'm not sure what bamboo smells like, hopefully others can help there!

Meliai is not what I expected… I was thinking it would be something sweet, soft, with smooth honey, and if anything, would fade away and be pleasant enough but non-descript. It is not any of these things.

In real life, Meliai is an extremely bright loud green scent, almost astringent, with something like pine or sour lemon in it. I tried it twice since I thought my expectation was coloring my opinion of it too much. After all, I *love* green scents, and pine, and lemon, and herbs, and trees; sometimes it just helps to be expecting them. But alas, this is too … something … for me. Might be better on a guy?

Wet: OMG love bright green-golden with blossoms - beautiful

Dry: Stays a bright yellow with tinge of green & hint of yellow floral when dry. I do wish it stayed stronger longer, but even still, it's so pretty.

The scents this reminds me of is seriously like a who's who of my top favorites of all time: Yggdrasil, Sunflower, Embalming Fluid, Litha06, Et Lux Fuit, Mag Mell... The only thing I'm trying to figure out is do I need a bottle since I already *have* all those, or do I need a bottle *because* clearly I love this type of thing. <3

I have totally been craving this too! Some ones I like:

Garden Path with Chickens

Little Bird - available now! You should try this!

Rosalind

Orpheus - more grassy than floral but very very green

And less the new-grass-spring-meadow-with-flowers but in a similar sunny outdoorsy theme:

Sunflower - this is more meadow in summer sunshine, seriously great

Antony

Apothecary

Mag Mell

Yggdrasil possibly

I love this scent! Green, and light springy flowers, and a zingy warmth of berries. And, unfortunately, (and I don't think I have ever had to write this about any other scent among the hundreds of bpals I've tried) it completely faded away on me within an hour. I'll retry, because.... it's just so odd; this has never happened before.

Couple ideas:

• BPAL forum top ten list from 2009 or 2008
• Maybe a theme scent, like if you know she likes Alice in Wonderland, something from that category?
• Maybe an imp pack, so there's more a range she can try? There's a massive Best-Bet Must-Try enabling thread with lots of good ideas, and, later on in the thread, a specific discussion of what newbies would like vs what you "grow into"

It would be interesting to know if there's some scents that maybe not everybody LOVES, but nobody HATES. Maybe Fairy Market?

Mag Mell for spring! I love it.

Mag Mell has a wonderful brightness to it. I love it for its lightly sweet zing!

Hi! Do you know for sure it's the almond that caused the reaction? Eclipse also has cinnamon, and many people's skin reacts poorly to cinnamon.

Either way, if you confirm what caused the reaction, before you buy scents from the lab you could also ask the lab about any scents you're concerned about - tell them you're allergic to almond & ask if a particular scent you'd like to buy includes it or not.

Recs: I find that sometimes almond scent smells like cherries, so maybe you could check out things that have cherry as a note? I wonder if Black Phoenix has almond in it (the notes aren't listed but I got an almond vibe from it). Dana O'Shee smelled like light almond on me and doesn't list almond as a note.

My favorite that lists balsam among the notes is Faunalia - it's pretty awesome!