Altaira
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Everything posted by Altaira
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Golden amber, golden musk, litsea cubeba, cedar, and saffron. This was a strong lemon with an herby background. I could not test for long because it made my wrist start to itch and burn very quickly.
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The almonds were very bitter on me - almost rancid - for a very off-putting scent. The notes sounded like something I would like, but I found it rather gross.
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The amber really came to the fore on me, with the honey adding a light muskiness. I hardly smell the vanilla at all. I like this a lot, it has a personality without being overpowering. I find it a very subtle scent. My husband enjoys it as well, he says it reminds him of an incense he used to burn in college - probably the amber. Considering getting a full bottle.
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I thought I was going to love this and bought a bottle unsniffed. I do like it, but it smells exactly like a less-spicy Pumpkin V 2009. And I already have a bottle of that. I don't need both.
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Well, I will now add champaca to the list of notes I am allergic too. I was able to wear this for about 30 seconds before rushing to scrub it off as my nose filled and a whopper of a sinus headache built. Yikes. I'm blaming the champaca because I have smelled all the other listed notes before with no issues and I have problems with magnolia,to which it is related.
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This is the first thing Mother Shub has cooked that didn't get cloyingly sweet on me. For me it was more of a bread pudding, or as was said above - cheesecake - than egg nog to me. There is a cooked, thickness about it. Lightly spicy. Nice, but I think a decant's worth is enough.
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This a fairly light scent on me with the frankincense the strongest note. Interestingly, while I can see why this is called Midnight Mass, it doesn't smell like church to me. Church incense always had a dry, acrid smell as it burned (disclosure: although raised Catholic, I haven't been to mass in about a decade to my memories are a bit fuzzy). This does not smell like burning incense at all, more the box were incense i stored. Overall, it's a nice scent but it doesn't really do anything for me.
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I like this a lot. The clove is most prominent, but it is not like the forceful clove of Gacela of the Dark Death. It is just enough spice to make it a unisex scent. The rest of the blend has a sweetness that to me is feminine; the clove adds enough kick to push it into neutral territory. I feel it would be a good scent to wear to a business meeting. It is forceful without being overpowering, sexy without being weak or bashful.
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Since metal, furniture polish, and dust is what I was expecting from this, it didn't disappoint. Wet, the lemon polish smell is very prominent. As it dries the metallic and dust scents come forward. Not sure this is something I would reach for all that often, but I do like it quite a bit.
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Huh. All I smell is cologne. It's a nose thing, not a skin thing because the same is true in the decant as on my skin. I guess that is the "aquatic" note people mention? I haven't had much experience with it in other blends. I don't smell dirt, I don't smell mint, I don't smell anything other than a fairly basic, high-priced cologne.
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I bought a bottle of this unsniffed because it seemed like the most interesting of the Yule foody scents. Unfortunately I think there is something off about Mother Shub's cooking. This turned very sweet and cloying on me. I can smell the spices, but it is just too much for me.
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Looking for a BPAL that Resembles a Favorite Perfume
Altaira replied to Ina Garten Davita's topic in Recommendations
I haven't tried Blackberry Amber, but from your notes here are a couple of suggestions. From the GC (Mad Tea Party): Red Queen Deep mahogany and rich, velvety woods lacquered with sweet, black-red cherries and currant. This has the fruit sweet foody scent, but is tempered by the dry woods. It's one of my favorites. (Just don't be turned off by the medicinal smell in the bottle! It fades in about 10 minutes) LE (2009 Yules): Mason & Jenkins Port Jelly Red and sticky! From a genuine Old Salem recipe! To me, this smells like original red Swedish Fish candy with a coating of dust. It's the same sort of dust behind the coffee in Misk U. -
Limited editions equivalents in the general catalog?
Altaira replied to Absinthe's topic in Recommendations
I'm finding Joulumuori to be very similar to Samhain. -
2009 version. I was excited for this because I've been looking for the perfect grape scent. I do get a bit of grapes from this. And the "cold" note is interesting; it floats up and hits the roof of my sinuses. However, mostly I get perfume. I'm starting to think it's some kind of pine or fir note that does this as I have the same issue with Samhain and Joulumuori.
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This is weird. I'm not getting leaves or any of the other things people say. There is a bit of apple in the background, but overall it is a sweet, almost floral perfume. The same thing happens with Joulumuori and Shivering Boy from the Yules. The 3 don't have listed notes in common, so I'm not sure what is having this reaction with my chemistry.
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On me this isn't very foody. I can smell a bit of fruit, apple? but it's probably the prunes. Mostly this has an almost floral perfume-y scent. Very similar to Samhain. It's not what I expected, but I do like it. However I already have a bottle of Samhain, so a decant of this will be enough. ETA one year later: So I was retesting the Yules from last year I still had around. And this is totally different. Why did I think this smelled like Samhain? They couldn't be more different now. Smelling more maple and hot cereal now, not getting the florals at all.
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This is interesting, very subtle. I've been trying to think where I've smelled this before and I think I've got it: uncooked carrot cake. It has that raw smell before baking brings out the sugars and a little bit of baking soda tartness. I'll definitely keep my decant, but I don't think I'll want to wear it enough to warrant a full bottle. ETA one year later: I now find this to be similar to a thicker, sweeter version of White Rabbit.
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It's... nice? The scent is honestly so light it's hardly making an impression on me at all. Faint fruit. I've had shower gel that smelled like this before. Not bad, but it doesn't stand out.
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This is a bit too masculine on me. I don't smell pine at all, just clove with a cologne background. Not a bad clove, more like a bag of cloves in a spice drawer than the sugared clove in a cigarette. This one doesn't change much from wet to dry, I washed off after about 30 minutes so I can't comment on long wear.
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When I first opened the decant my first thought was "gummi bears!" Then, after applying the oil, I realized it was actually original red flavor Swedish Fish. Which is much better. Not only are they vegetarian (pectin, not gelatin based) the red flavor is a mixed berry, not cherry. I'm not getting alcohol at all with this. What I *am* getting a a dry, dusty background scent - similar to the "dusty books" aspect of Miskatonic University. This is an *old* family recipe they literally have to dust off every year. Although stronger in the bottle/wet, this stays true on drydown. I quite like this one and am considering a full bottle. It is sweet, but not cloyingly so like Momma Shub's blends have been for me.
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In the bottle, this is all strong blood orange with florals far in the background. Once on, it does this weird thing where I can hardly smell it at all on my skin but my husband - 15 feet away on the other side of the room - says "Now what are you wearing?" And when I try to walk closer so he can sniff my wrist, "No, that's OK. I can smell it just fine from here." It dries down to a pleasant fruity/floral scent, but I feel uncomfortable wearing anything with a throw that big. I like it OK, but not enough to force anyone within a 20 foot radius of me to smell it.
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I don't hate it, but it reminds me of Jean Naté. As a young child with teenage sisters in the lats '70s/ early '80s, that's not a scent I want to relive. Passing his one off to the swaps.
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In the bottle, this smells like bitter-sweet chocolate oranges and something smoky. Unfortunately, once I put it on I discovered that it turned to baby powder very quickly. I'm new to BPAL, so this is the first time I've had that happen. I left it on for a few hours just in case the powder went away, but no luck.
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This is a light, herby slightly powdery citrus scent. The geranium is very prominent to me. My mom had lemon geranium plants in pots on the back porch. I always loved to crush the leaves and smell them; this smells like that. The lemongrass is canceling out any rose scent. I don't really smell the blood orange at all (if you are looking for a strong blood orange scent try Pet Megah Bird) and I think the frankincense is what is lending the slight powder edge to the blend. I like this a lot. I'm learning that the foody scents I am attracted to by their definitions can be too cloying on me, so I'm forcing myself to expand my horizons and am happy with the results This has a comforting herbal lemon/ginger tea feel without the heavy sweetness of something like Shub.
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I was excited to get this as a frimp from the Lab as it was on my wishlist. In the imp and wet on my skin, I wondered why I had ever thought this would be a good thing, as it smelled strongly of cough syrup. Not really the red cherry flavor, more the orange colored syrup that is generic "fruit" flavored. Luckily with 10 or 15 minutes the medicinal smell goes away and mellows down. It dries down to a very nice raspberry square scent. Not as sweet as many other foody scents, I really do like this one. This fades fast on me. Most oils, if I put them on before work in the morning, I can still smell them until I wash them off in the shower the next morning. Red Queen is almost imperceptible after about 3 hours.