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Bearing in mind that florals are not really my friend.. I would suggest Grief - lily of the valley, hyacinth, calamus, muguet, hydrangea, and elemi - reviews are here. To me, it was a nice mix of florals without being too floral-y, and it does have a nice soft/light tone. It's a shame that Sundew is now discontinued, because that would be another one I would have recommended - no listed notes, but to me that one was a beautiful sparkling, golden sunny and fresh blend that feels like a floral but isn't full-on flowers. Reviews are here - it might be worth trying to track down an imp, because it really is a nice one. The other one that came to mind is Moonshine and Mist - ethereal, otherworldly, delicate: ambergris, white musk, water violet, ylang ylang, magnolia, and white sandalwood - reviews are here. Very soft and pretty - it actually does feel misty, and kind of like a forest full of wildflowers. I was thinking it would be a nice companion to Fae Forest.. not sure about how it would go with Slobbering Pine though - maybe worth a try?

Wow.. the things I would never have tried, had I not been frimped them! Yes.. Phantom Queen definitely falls into that category - floral-y things mixed with moss and green things are not usually my cup o'tea at all. But when I first pull the lid from the imp, I am greeted with a lovely clean apple smell - kind of like a green apple scented shampoo that I used to use years ago. When I first apply the oil, it's all apple blossom - creamy, sweet, soft but not weak.. just gorgeous. Then the black orchid comes out with that lovely waxy texture, and for a little while there this is all the best parts of my beloved old green apple shampoo but without the soap smell. Ten minutes in, and the greenery starts to come forth - kind of like a little forest of smells slowly and deliberately marching over the top of the soft sweetness of the apple + orchid. Bad, bad forest! Back off!! But no.. the final score here is forest of greenery wins the battle over the delicate apple and orchid fragrance. This really isn't something I would wear, which is probably just as well since it's discontinued now, but it is quite lovely nonetheless and I know I'll find just the right home for my imp one day, because I see plenty of people do love this one. Great for those who like the sweetness of fruit and floral but enjoy the rich deep tones of dark greens.

Usually from the US to Australia takes around 10-14 days, and from EU (and UK) around the same. Sometimes they will be a little quicker than that, and sometimes a little slower, but generally it's around two weeks. Hope that helps! edited, because I think this topic is more abut international shipping & info for BPAL orders, rather than general questions.. this thread here seems to be more for non-order related questions so your post may get moved there

Not sure if this will help.. but for me: O - sickly, powdery, cloying honey. Too much honey for me. And something almond-ish, I dunno.. just ick on my skin. Nothing chocolate-y about this one, on me. Bliss - chocolate, chocolate.. and chocolate. On me, it's a dry and kinda powdery chocolate - rather than a rich, milky chocolate.. but it's definitely chocolate. Gluttony - this was more caramel gooey than chocolate on me. Very rich and syrupy, sweet and a little bit something almost-boozy - like those liquer-filled chocolates. Oh - but did you realise Gluttony is actually discontinued? So that might help you narrow down your choice, since you'll probably find that Gluttony is hard to get hold of

Awww.. that label for Pumpkin Princess is gorgeous! Thanks for sharing your pics, angelicruin

Oh.. ivyandpeony - I had forgotten about The Snack Hut, but yes - I definitely got popcorn from that, although the cherry was very strong as well so it wasn't a 'pure' popcorn smell like Shill or Trick or Treat. And I think that one's discontinued now, so I'm not sure how easy it will be to find some. But I honestly can't say I got any popcorn at all from The Elephantine Colossus - it was all red musk/cola on me - just thought I'd chime in on that one, because it is a bit difficult to find.

Shill.. will definitely be hard to find. Trick or Treat (the 2009 version) shouldn't be that difficult - hunt around in the For Sale topic, there will probably be at least a decant floating around Both Shill and TorT are both definitely the buttery/sweet kind of popcorn smell though - not the salty popcorn smell. Of the two, I'd say Trick or Treat is the sweeter, and Shill is the more buttery, if that helps. But if it's salty popcorn you're after.. hmm, nothing comes to mind for that - sorry!

greylen is right - Shill is buttered popcorn all the way! But it came out with the Carnaval Noir series many years ago, and has been discontinued for a while now, so that one will be hard to find. You could try to find Trick or Treat - that was also an old one from 2005, but it came back for Halloween 2009 so it shouldn't be too hard to find. The description for that one is "The sticky sweet scent of candy corn!" and that's *exactly* what it smells like

As others have mentioned.. I think it's all about how a scent makes you feel - if you feel confident, attractive, sexy whatever - that will come out in the way that other people see you For me, I have a few - Banshee Beat is the BPAL I wear more than any other (probably at least 3 out of 5 days at work), and the one most people notice when I'm wearing it - I've had more compliments and "Ooooh! What is that perfume?!?" questions about Banshee Beat than any other BPAL that I wear. I love the smell of it on me, I really know that I smell good and it makes me feel happy when I wear it. If I want to feel a bit more strong/confident than usual, I tend to pick scents that are more 'dark' or 'heavy' - like Lucy, Kissed or Spanked - also Crowley. And if I'm feeling a bit girly/pretty then it's Snow White, Mouse's Sad and Long Tale, Vasilissa or Antique Lace. And when I just can't work out what I want to smell like, I usually reach for either Snake Oil or Snake Charmer Resurrected. I think that for most people, it does take a little time to find "the one". My suggestion would be to try as many things as you possibly can, and break out of your comfort zone when it comes to trying new smells - the thing about BPAL is that some of the blends you think are never going to work or don't sound all that appealing can turn out to be surprisingly wonderful

One of the things I enjoy most about BPTP's sprays is that they're not 'normal' smells for room sprays. I mean.. before these all I really knew was the typical 'air freshener' smells - you know, the type that come in a spray can and have names like 'Summer Garden' or 'Ocean Breeze'. Ick. But with BPTP I get smells of leather, smoke, woods, spices - and I love them because they're different - I just don't dig my house smelling of flowers. Soooo.. sadly, Sakura is in that 'typical air freshener' category of smells to me. That's probably not really a completely fair statement, because the notes in Sakura are clean and rich and not at all fake-smelling, but still.. it is what it is. This room now smells lovely, with a strong hit of the sweet cherry blossom and the heady richness of wisteria, and the dusky loveliness of iris, and it's definitely a heady scent evocative of Japanese gardens where the cherry blossom trees are in full bloom creating patterns of dappled sunlight on the ground and the wisteria is dripping languidly over wood gazebos. But it's really not my kind of thing, and in the end analysis it's just too sweet and floral for my liking.

As others have mentioned, this is not the dark/deep scent I was kind of expecting from the mention of 'wicked wrath' and the oak, gunpowder and leather notes - it has a rather light quality to it. It's quite subtle and subdued, but nicely complex in a simple kind of way. When I first put El Nuevo on, it was a bit noisy - the woods, spices and lime seemed to have trouble finding a way to get along. But after about 30 minutes, things have settled down and the leather has come out - it's soft and dusty, not at all a strong kind of leather. The lime is slightly sweet and waxy/creamy - it's not overtly citrus toned or foody in any way. Overall, El Nuevo kind of reminds me of Mr. Nancy.. if he were to lose some of the pepper and tone himself down a few notches. I'm not really picking up much of the vanilla bean, which is a bit disappointing - it is there, but it's waaaaaay down at the base of the fragrance. I find that it stays pretty close to my skin, without a lot of throw, and it fades almost completely within 2 hours. I really like this, but I'm not sure I will end up wearing it.. it's really very nice, but it doesn't knock my socks off. It is beautifully blended though, and the leather + woods + lime combination is very enjoyable.

Oh HELLO THERE powerful Sumatran patchouli! I love the way you have filled the air around me with deep, dark patchouliness! (that is so a word ) Once I get over the intense blast of patchouli, which quite literally almost made my eyes water, I find the lovely woodsy-ness of the copaiba and pao d’arco are in there too - together, the woods and the patchouli create the atmosphere of a deep, dank, dark forest. The kind of forest you have to cut your way through with a machete to get through to daylight Further on into the drydown, the lovely cacao and bourbon vanilla come out - a good thing, too, because without them I think La Mano would be just a little too much of a good thing.. I mean, I like my patchouli and woodsy smells - but this one goes to eleven. It's reminding me a lot of Banshee Beat - not that they smell the same at all.. but they both have that gnarly oomph to them. Ooh - and also Lucy, Kissed with that snarly dark lush patchouli it has. I'm also reminded of Panther Moon - although not a patchouli blend, it has that lovely enveloping darkness to it. I like a bit of oomph and enveloping darkness I think the cinnamon is just lost in here - I can't really pick it up on its own, but what I do smell seems more like a sweet kind of cinnamon than an obviously spicy one. And the tobacco only really comes out on my skin after I've had La Mano on for almost an hour - it took that long for the patch/woods to mellow out enough! I'm liking the tobacco here - it's pretty soft and.. slightly damp smelling, but it adds a nice warm glow. This is going to be even more awesome a year from now after it's aged a bit. If you're scared of patchouli.. then walk away now my friend, for this one will frighten little children and almost certainly make babies cry. But if you like your patchouli to be all gnarly and pulsing, and you don't particularly care about scaring people.. then this one's for you. edited for spelling fail. .

YUM YUM YUM!! I'm LOVING this one!! Mastermind has some of my most-loved notes in it.. leather, black amber, oudh, and bourbon vanilla - it was only the jasmine that I was worried about. Oh, and the mention of 'cologne' - that almost put me off. But oh happy day - I'm not picking up any jasmine at all here, thankfully my skin has decided to dispose of it completely! And cologne? What cologne?? Something in here smells like a bit like dark chocolate when I first apply it - I wonder what that is! I suspect it's all those dark notes mixing with the bourbon vanilla, but I'm not complaining because it smells divine! I can pick up the leather (warm and 'new' as opposed to worn), the black amber is dark and dusky, the oudh is adding a lush smokey vibe, and the orange blossom is just adding a faint touch of sweetness. On full dry-down, this actually reminds me very much of Hellion.. but I tend to amp plum, so I guess that's why I can smell it so strongly here. I do think that Mastermind has a strong similarity to Hellion.. but where Hellion on me was very golden and warm in tone, Mastermind is more dark and definitely devilishly handsome. So far, this is my fave of the Grendel scents. I just might need a bottle

Damn you, lilac, why can't you behave on my skin? And frankincense.. why do you have to turn into lemon sometimes? You two have completely ruined Exorcist for me.. I can smell the lovely resins and the dark musk trying to come forward but nope - the lilac mixed in with the lemony-frankincense are not pleasant at all on my skin, the whole thing ends up smelling like a cheap Avon perfume. Sadly, this is not a winner for me.

Mmm.. I'm loving this one! On my skin, it has a similar feel/tone to Spanked.. slightly spicy, soft and dusky, warm and snuggly. I almost didn't bother trying this one, because I was worried about the floral notes (the tuberose and pikaki, especially) - but I'm happy to report that I don't really notice the florals in here at all. What I do get is a lovely soft vanilla (not sweet) with a rum tinge, a gorgeous earthiness from the patchouli, and a slight spicy kick from the pepper, clove and caraway.. but it's not SPICY as such, it just has a hint of brown spices. Golden amber is fast becoming a favourite note for me - it doesn't go as uber-powdery as some other ambers on me - and in Avenger it lends just a hint of golden softness that's really lovely. So although I was expecting this to be a bit more kick-ass with that pepper/patchouli/clove combo, I'm not at all disappointed.. this is working really nicely on me! If you enjoy dusky, semi-spicy blends then I would definitely recommend giving this one a try

You could try Antony (reviews here) - the notes are ambergris and frankincense with sage and basil but I find it has a very dill-like smell to it. I also remember picking up a dill-like smell from Black Cat. You could also check Envy, Loup Garou and Delphi - those all had a hint of dill to my nose. A lot of people mention a 'dill pickle' smell to certain BPALs, but I'm not sure that's what you're after! Dill itself is not something I've encountered in many blends, so good luck in your search!

At first, slightly sour berries (for me, blackberry=sour).. a hint of booziness, musky redness. On full drydown, the darker berries have taken a back seat to the sweeter ones (strawberry, blueberry), the booziness has gone completely, and the cherry is the star of the show. Where's the apricot? Dunno.. it never showed up. In the end, I have musky cherry with a hint of blueberry. Which isn't a bad thing at all, really.. but the middle stage with the lovely sweet rich berries was nicer

Err.. no, not my thing at all. The elements I was hoping to find (blood orange, ylang ylang and tonka) are lost completely in the blazing white light of the chypre and florals. I can't actually discern many individual notes I can smell the violet leaf and also the rose, but that's about it - it's just a sharp, strong, perfumey mix of smells that I don't like at all. Oh wait.. the bergamot - that's pretty strong. It has a real old-fashioned vibe to it. But that's just me - I knew this one wouldn't work, but I wanted to try it anyway. I actually ended up washing it off, because the smell was just way too much for me.. it was like getting into an elevator that's just been vacated by one hundred ladies who had doused themselves in their favourite Avon perfume before leaving the house on their way to Seniors' Night at the bingo hall. I feel bad saying that, because this is a beautiful perfume creation in its own right, but it's just totally not my thing PS to be fair, after washing this off my skin - I checked my arm and there's still a hint of Donna left behind.. and it's actually quite nice now. It's like a mix of baby shampoo and soft florals, nothing like it was at full strength. Still not enough to make me want to wear it, but definitely not the Eau de one hundred Avon-wearing bingo ladies that it was before

This painting has long been a favourite of mine, so I was really excited to see how Beth translated it into a perfume! And.. I am not disappointed This one took a little while to settle in to my skin - at first it was a strange mix of woody, herbal-y, citrusy smells that was a little sharp.. but 10 minutes later, oh.. it was much better! I think it hit its best point for me at about 30 minutes in. So you really can't go wrong with chocolate and orange, but this is so much more than just your regular choc-orange thing.. the richness of the king mandarin paired with the lovely dark cocoa absolute is sublime here.. it's everything it should be - rich and deep but not at all foody nor overly sweet. And the combination of the woody and green tones with the tonka and galangal produce a gorgeous earthy smokiness that sits just under the sweetness of the mandarin/cocoa duo. Much like The Tree of Life itself, this perfume unfolds more layers of interest as it goes - it changes tones but overall stays pretty consistent. Over time, the mandarin does fade a fair bit which leaves the beautiful ash bark and the wood and moss to play more of a lead role, but the mandarin is still there.. just a lot more subdued. It definitely has an 'alive' feel to it - I'm reminded of how a forest smells.. just kind of alive. Tree of Life doesn't have a lot of throw, it's one of those 'lean in to enjoy' kinds of BPALs, and I found it faded fairly quickly on my skin, but it was completely enjoyable the whole time it was there.

This scent has beautiful, glowing tones of red, orange and gold to me - it's got a lovely sensuality about it.. velvety, musky, slightly powdery, and quite intoxicating. There's a lot of complexity to this perfume - on my skin, it comes up with a really interesting interplay between the red musk, the red amber and the sandalwood - those are definitely the main players for me, but the frankincense is present too.. just not as obvious. The red musk is soft and warm here, which is good news for those who have trouble with red musk when it's in full-on strength mode. I don't really pick up anything floral or green, and I probably wouldn't have detected the tobacco note if I didn't see it listed, but I'm thinking it's that + the golden musk that's giving it the gold tones I can feel. After it has fully dried down, Hygeia ends up smelling like a dusky incense on my skin.. a red musk/sandalwood incense. But there's a lovely subtlety to this - it's one of those BPALs that just kind of absorbs into my skin, so that it isn't really obviously a perfume - it's just a lovely scent cloud around me. I can't really see myself reaching for this one very often, but I do enjoy testing Beth's Salon blends because they are always something a bit special.. and this one is no exception. PS does anyone else see a similarity to Crowley, in the 'red' tones of Hygeia? I know that's a very unlikely pair to put together as being similar, but to me they share the same kind of red warmth.

Hiya PixelTreason Welcome to the forum! Oh yeah.. if you like the foody ones, you're going to love Halloween time!! You had better start putting some pennies away now, in preparation Candy Corn Coated Candy Apple was actually from last year's Halloween series at the Black Phoenix Trading Post (scroll about a third of the way down that page and you'll see it) - so it was a Limited Edition, and no longer available. However.. I found a bottle for sale here, and if you look through the 'For Sale' topic you can probably find a decant (an imp-sized sample) if you'd prefer to try it before grabbing a whole 5ml. Last Halloween was like a foody-lover's feast - but sadly those things are always limited editions. Really though, there's not much you can't find if you dig through the For Sale area, so don't give up on finding something even if it's no longer available. Eat Me is an interesting one, because it has the cake and also the currant/berry notes.. so the trick there is to work out which it is you like (the cake or the berries) or whether it's the combination of the two.. that will help you decide what other similar things you might like to try. Molls has given you some excellent starting points in those links she posted, but if you spend some time in the 'Recommendations' topic then you will be able to look through pages of recommendations and suggestions for just about every kind of smell you could ever want! Probably the best collection of foody-related scents are in The Mad Tea Party line, but there's some good ones scattered all through the General Catalogue. And yes, the website can be a bit overwhelming.. just start at the top of the menu on the left and work your way through one collection at a time - if you take notes of the ones that catch your eye, you can come back here and then read the reviews to find out more. But back to Halloween - it won't be long now, and they should be here.. so maybe just browse around for now and wait to see if anything tempts you when the Weenies get here

Hmm.. I really love Lucy, Kissed - diabolical voluptuousness, a siren song from the grave: juniper and yew brushing against blackened violets and funeral roses, red musk and hot blood, veined white marble and icy, brittle musk, all pulsing with the sinister, hypnotic scent of patchouli, amber, oude, and cubeb - it was an LE from the Trading Post back in '09, so it's a little harder to find, but if you think your Mom would like that sort of thing.. it really is one of the most impressive patchouli blends I've found in BPAL - the patch is definitely there, and it's beautifully deep and earthy, but all those other notes just take it to a whole new level (don't mind the violet or rose - I'm not into florals at all, and this isn't a 'floral' blend). I would definitely recommend hunting down a decant to try There's been some pretty awesome LE blends starring patchouli over the years (Panther Moon is one that comes to mind) but chasing them down can be tricky.. so here's some that I like in the GC (you'll notice a theme here as to how I like my patchouli but really these aren't all as evil as they sound!): Vixen - lascivious, flirtatious, and vampy as hell. A true heartbreaker’s perfume. The innocence of orange blossom tainted by the beguiling scents of ginger and patchouli. Sin - thoroughly corrupted: amber, sandalwood, black patchouli and cinnamon. Depraved - a salacious, lecherous, leering scent - dirty and dark, slapped with a wet sweetness. Earthy black patchouli swelling with apricot. Goblin - dab a bit behind each ear, and you'll be instantly inspired to alter street signs, shake fruit from your neighbor's trees, and hide your roommate's car keys. Black coconut, gnarly patchouli, and sweet benzoin. Desire - the overwhelming agony of passion crystallized into a singularly dark and magnetic blend: bittersweet neroli, black patchouli and black musk, gilded by apple, bergamot, blood red rose, teak, and vanilla. And of course my absolute favourite.. Banshee Beat, which you really should try and get hold of because it's just drop-dead gorgeous. Here's a tip - if you want to find blends with a specific note in them.. use the Advanced Search function - type in your note (eg 'patchouli') in the search box, leave the 'Match' option set to 'any words' (don't check the 'Search Titles Only' box), leave the author and date fields blanks then in the next 'section' line - check the button for 'Forums', then in the box next to 'Find in forum' just scroll down the list until you find 'Reviews' - highlight that, and then just underneath there where it says 'Display results' - check the button for 'As posts'. Click the SEARCH button down the bottom, and it will now bring up every post in the Reviews topic that mentions patchouli. Oh.. and I personally find that BPAL's various patchouli notes definitely benefit from a bit of aging, so if you get some that don't smell too great when they're brand-new fresh.. don't give up - put them aside for a little bit and see if they mellow out. Hope that helps!

Tombstone was the first thing that came to my mind for JD

Hi Asinya Well.. those are both really interesting stories for the smells you're trying to find! I can think of several Limited Edition blends that would probably be just right, but they can be hard to find since they're no longer available.. so I'm going to stick to the general catalogue of BPAL. So let's see - for your impish forest troll, how about: Bayou - A lazy, warm deep green scent with a thick aquatic undertone: Spanish moss, evergreen and cypress with watery blue-green notes and an eddy of hothouse flowers and swamp blooms. Goblin - black coconut, gnarly patchouli, and sweet benzoin. Ekhidna - mandrake, dark myrrh, seaweed, swampy moss, black pepper, pimento, opoponax, tobacco absolute, and tarry clove. And of course.. there's Troll - this is a gruesome blend of ghastly greens and blacks: vetiver, pine pitch, troll musk, black basil, clove smoke, and scorched cumin. For your Swedish Huldra: Imp - devilishly playful: white peach, amber, golden musk and patchouli. Nocnista - her scent is that of a lightless fir wood, nighttime air, wet forest mosses and upturned earth. Bewitched - deep, luscious green and berry scents that evoke images of woodland witchcraft and the raw power of nature: blackberry, sage, green tea, wild berries and dark musk. Fae - a brilliant, ethereal scent: white musk, bergamot, heliotrope, peach and oakmoss. The Forest Reverie - a sunlit ancient forest, dotted with wild roses, grape vine, and queenly lilies, clothed in swirls of opium smoke. I'm also thinking that you might enjoy one of the Black Phoenix Trading Post's atmospheric sprays (for scenting your rooms and linens) - Fae Forest: Mist-shrouded woods: Siberian fir needles, white pine bark, aspen leaf, wild lily, bergamot, wood violet, thimbleberry, sun-star, golden bell, snowdrop, heartsease, and bloodroot. I've probably interpreted your request too literally, but perhaps you'll find something amongst those suggestions that will pique your interest Since you're international, to save yourself the cost of shipping from the Lab if you just want to buy imps.. I would suggest looking through the 'For Sale' section here on the forum - you'll find people selling imps at very fair prices and with reasonable postage costs so that's a great way to grab a whole bunch of things to try, without having to spend too much. I hope you find what you're looking for! Edited to mention.. this post would be better in the 'Recommendations' topic - but don't worry, it will get moved by a forum moderator if that's the case

Hmm.. I'm pretty sure these would have all been mentioned already in this thread - but for pure coconut/vanilla I don't think you'll get better than Tiki Princess.. it was a forum-only blend, so you'll need to go hunting for it but it shouldn't be too hard to find a decant to try. And from the GC.. have you tried Obatala? The description is 'Obatala’s ofrenda is soft, white and pure: milk, coconut meat, shea butter and cool, refreshing water.' so there's nothing musky/dark or heavy in there at all - it's a lovely soft, slightly milky/creamy coconut with a beautiful clean, cool feel so it's not overly sweet or suntan lotion-ish at all. You can check through the reviews here but I'd say it's definitely worth a try. Oh, and personally - Black Opal doesn't really hit me as a coconut blend (although there is a coconut-ish smell to it), but it is a lovely clean/soft vanilla. Another one worth considering is Black Pearl - the notes are 'Coconut, Florentine iris, hazelnut and opalescent white musk' - so this one has a musk but not a dark one, a floral feel from the iris, and a bit of interest via the hazelnut (which on me isn't like NUTS at all, it's soft and nice).. reviews are here.. it may be worth a try