SophieCedar

Excellent! I haven't worn Alice since I went to see the Tim Burton release. I'll need to break that one out again. I also love Queen Alice. There's a Lush holiday scent out there that reminds me of it but can't remember. Wish I could find a bpal similar to Champagne Snowshowers! *laments loss of favorite scent* I know! The play-doh wasn't too surprising, considering "play-doh" has its own thread here. But the RAID... And I tried the imp a few times, thinking "maybe it was allergies!" or "maybe it was hormones!" or "maybe I ate something weird!" but no. So far, the stats are stacking up against Bread and Butterfly. I do have to say, though, that Alice was a total win.

Play-doh and RAID?! oh no! hahaha! You're right. I got my samples of White Rabbit and B&B. White Rabbit is nice, but there's about 20 minutes of play-doh, then it becomes nearly undetectable except for faint wisps. B&B... smells like Raid (the bug spray) on my skin. SO SAD! So I'm still searching. And so far, Molly Grue is the best match for me.

Oh man.. I tried this yesterday when it was really warm out. it didn't smell good at all. Smelled a bit like poop. I think the opium tar and rose otto ganged up on the jasmine and currant. Reading this on the site, before testing, I thought to myself "well that's a ballsy combination of favorites.. wonder how it'll work out?" Today: tried again and it's gorgeous. Mellower, sweeter, no poop. Wet: The musk and currant are strongest with jasmine burning off quickly like one of those firecracker snakes. A little strong and effervescent here for that reason. The ylang ylang permeates sideways and swirls around. Nice dimension to this one! Drydown: soft sweet dark currant and florals. Hypnotic almost. The jasmine is still very present. It's a less bitter more musky Pannychis.

Wet: sharp lemon peel and grapefruit with white tea and something chemical smelling. Maybe the white mint is setting it off. Ugh I'll just hang on through this.. at lease I'm awake now~! Drydown: the leather, orchid, and amber develop.. slowly promising. The grapefruit has turned very sweet and mingled with orchid and leather to produce this awesome sweet musky pungence. The sheer amber provides a light warmth in the background, but nothing beyond a color impression of light soft yellow. I can smell bits of the kush and teakwood however it just comes across as a type of ambergris when mixed with the citruses and tea. Further into drydown, they smooth out a make themselves distinct from the rest. Very soothing and sexy. This is a wonderful chypre. (why spellcheck, do you only associate the word "preachy" with chypre? hahahaha!)

This is the scent of the cupcakes that her (kind, generous, and wonderful!) Aunt Sarah made for her birthday! Lilith's request was for sprinkle flavored cupcakes ("sprinklecakes!") with pink and purple glitter frosting, and that's what she got. That's what you're getting, too: this cupcake fragrance is the sweetest of the sweet, the sugariest of the sugary! Rainbow sprinkles baked into rich vanilla cake with thick, creamy frosting topped with glittery candy flakes. I was on sugar overload the 1st day this was tested. I could barely smell anything besides for a slight sugar vanilla note... and left it aside, in favor of something stronger. Funny thing was, I got some great compliments on how I smelled.. even though I couldn't smell it. People's compliments were: "it's not strong or overwhelming.. just.. NICE! I like it a lot!" Something in this strikes a cord with people.. nostalgia, cravings, whatever you want to call it. It's a crowd pleaser. Anyways, I went back to it a few days later and smelled the following: Wet: sharp toothachingly sweet sugar blend: purple, pink and white, with sugar loaded vanilla batter. This is not a buttery baked batter; it's wet and sugary. Drydown: sweet sweet soft vanilla with a bit of my little pony smell. It does have a bit of a sugary artificial doll smell to it. Very youthful and dizzying! I do like this, after all. It stuck to a piece of clothing..When I put it back on the next day and could smell the Sprinklecake, it was a really pleasant surprise.

I can tell you that White Rabbit is different than I thought. The white pepper and ginger notes come out stronger than anticipated. I had an aged imp of White Rabbit that was really mellow.. that might be closer IMO! B&B smelled strongly of salty butter a little dry tea and sugar, to me. Unique, I'd say! The Soft Touch was my favorite body butter. I hoarded a couple bars when they said they were discontinuing, but one of the appeals of Lush is the no-preservatives. It also means my last bar of TST is past its expiration date, and aging quickly. Sigh. (it *does* go on cold!) Thanks for the Twilight BB recs. I'll add those to the list. And Ceridwen's Cauldron - is some serious magic. I think the essential oils are only part of the CC equation - the rest of it is all hot water loaded with diffusing cocoa butter and oats and some kind of cooking spices (maybe?) and it's like soaking in spicy, milky tea. Molly Grue is close; I was considering The White Rabbit to see if that's closer, or maybe Bread and Butterfly.

I love opium tar and tobacco but green tea can make my nose burn fiercely. No exception here. I can make out plum and kush too, but the combination of green tea and ambrette seed is causing a reaction... I'll have to enjoy this in small amounts.. from a distance... later.

From descriptions, it looks like Potion is mostly carnation with some rose and clove. I really dislike carnation, so I don't have any recommendations, but the Lab has lots of carnation scents to choose from. There is a thread devoted to it: http://www.bpal.org/topic/21410-carnations/ Ya know I think of Potion every time I put on Hod! Smells almost exactly the same to me minus a touch of mandarin that really doesn't come up too strongly in Potion anyways.

Oh yesss. .Lush was my gateway drug too. The Soft Touch is amazing but from what I know it was discontinued. There might be a little left out there. It's an amazing vanilla mango orchid tonka-ish scent. I can't really think of a close match besides for oddly enough Nymphia. Soft Touch has this cooling mango thing.. it goes on feeling cold, IMO! Twilight BB: I haven't tried TKO but wonder if it compares? I think Aeval would be close, in composition & strength if we're looking at something that has tonka and a sweet soft floral. You might like Twilight the bpal too, but the jasmine makes this much more of a heady floral. Maybe also Paris. Ceridwen's Cauldron: ooh this is a good question. I'll need to think on that one. Molly Grue is oaty but too spicy. Veil is close but too floral. Maybe if you mixed them!

Got a goblin squirt with an ebay purchase and maaaann was I psyched. I'm a fool for sake smells. The creamy boozy rice thing gets me every time. When I sprayed this I walked through it a little too fast..it accidentally stuck to my face. Particularly the nose part. Yes, that was me wandering around Belfast, with a stupid grin, stinking wonderfully of cherry blossoms and sake.

Thanks so much Puddin and Goblins! I really thought I smelled sea spray at first, but it broke apart into wet dirt & ozone, aquatic note, with grey stone. Pretty close to the smell of the Maine coast anyways . Really soothing, dark, earthy. I can see how this would be viewed as a masculine scent, but I don't really jump towards the association "cologne" when I smell this one. The aquatic and ozone notes are present without being overpowering. I like it.

Delicious. Straight up delicious. Sweet, slightly spicy but not nutmeg or cinnamon strong, even a hint of floral from the kukui nuts, and buttery. Reminds me of some Pumpkin Patch scents without the strong overlaying pumpkin note. There's something about the combination that still reminds me of pumpkin or squash. In fact, I was convinced that it was an element in Halfling! This is the winner for layering. ETA: I tried this again today and said to myself "this is what I wished Molly Grue was, but it wasn't".

POW! Ginger and balsam with sweet sarsaparilla. Very effervescent..like fizzy, not bubbly though. This literally reminds me exactly of fizzing extra strong ginger beer. Super cute. It wouldn't be a go-to scent, but adorable none the less. Drydown is a little more peppery and cologne-like but not too much different!

Oh no. If one can gauge what character they would be, based on the compatibility of the scent worn, I'm definitely leaning toward dwarf. I was so hoping I'd be something ethereal and elegant.. but then again, that doesn't really match my bumbling, hard working, sarcastic, chaotic personality anyways. The iron and stone actually runs true and smells wet, grey, and soothing. Heavenly, even. This combination is making me feel all floaty. The hops are wonderfully earthy and intoxicating (we have a good relationship anyways). Uhm soot covered leather? Yes please. I love it.

White sandalwood, beeswax, white tea leaf, oud, and a hint of sophisticated urban musk. Hello? banshee beat? Is that you? H-hello? HELLO? I can't hear you! Seriously. I does smell like a lighter slightly aquatic version of banshee beat on me. Twice I've tried this with the same results. I'm seriously confused!

Oh man.. I think mxtine and I have the same skin chemistry. This is all pine and moss with a tiny amount of life everlasting and musk. The honeycomb is lost because of my body's wonderful ability to amp evergreens. I'd really like to try this out on a few friends with different chemistry though. I can see this being beautiful on the right person.. darn! I so wanted to match well with Elf!

Wet: warm, wet red roses and sweet, strong, dark brown, sugary cinnamon. Ka-pow! It's not fucking around. Hits me instantly and strongly. I normally don't care for rose but this is splendid. Harlot busts right out of the box, stays present, and the drydown..well.. drydown: sweet cinnamon sugar and syrupy warm roses. It's like cinnamon pastries with rose liqueur. Frikkin yum. I can equate the smell with the feeling of warm, fond memories of a steamy date. Ones that makes you skootch in your seat and salivate while you nervously hum to yourself to break the awesome mental replay you're having in an inappropriate setting.. work, on the bus, etc.. Anywhere you get a little embarrassed with that feeling of "omg did they hear that? Oh wait I was only thinking.. nothing came out of my mouth. I hope that dude across from me can't read minds.."

This is my 1st foray into TAL oils and what a wonderful start. Wet: lovely, bright, certainly optimistic, positively glowing lemon balm, magnolia maybe?, a couple herbs I notice from new age shop oils (..jeez what is the smell? It's thyme-y, green minty, something with a slight blackened resin feel? I remember smelling it off a bunch of blends that Sun's Eye makes. Not frankincense?) Seriously, smelling this 1st thing in the morning is pretty much one of the most valuable things I can do with my day. Well.. getting tattooed in the morning is a close second, but this is way less painful. It's incredibly uplifting and breaks apart any fogginess or negativity, for me. Drydown: I equate the emotional path to jumping in fresh clean water. Invigorating at 1st with the altar-like smells and strong lemon balm + floral that I perceive as magnolia. So much that I can successfully leave behind any bad notions and just immerse myself in the moment. Kinda like a mini-rebirth I guess. Then, drydown/as I continue to wade, there's this peacefulness that washes over me. The lemon balk is soothing, there's a smooth clean green herbal and lavender feel. Still hanging onto that magnolia idea. Ready to get out of the water/do the dishes/jump in the car etc and handle the rest of my life with a different perspective, as long as I can hang onto this feeling. Then if all else fails or the day beats it out of me, jump back in the water later (or reapply BTC) and regenerate myself.

This is one of those examples where Beth knows so well how some ingredients will mix and what association it will bring, that she hit this one dead on. It smells like musty lace.. really it does!..strange dry musty lace and frankincense when wet, then drydown.. the cognac and oakmoss pop out more giving it this tattered lace meets dirty old man's library with aged, slightly soured, untouched in 20 years baking in the window booze, and traditional cologne wafting off of tired, wrinkled skin enrobed in costly velvet feel. Thoroughly bizarre but intriguing. ETA: about 1 hour later, this settles into a sweet, earthy linen. Much more enjoyable!

Crap. I forgot to review this but totally thought I did. I'm loosing it. Wet: spicy dark berry sangria! Cute, sweet, gnarly dark> dangerous bitch style! I like this... Smells like trouble! The berries are a rich black maroon. I've never smelled kewda like but it's pretty much an awesome floral from what I can tell, picking apart the identifiable from the unknown here. Drydown: still wonderful dark berries, sweet deep musk, and a orchid-level like floral. Consistent trouble.. like the kind that makes you forgive a gal if she's a sloppy drunken mess starting bar fights, just because she smells great. Note to self.

Wet: a Dr. Pepper poof comes out for a millisecond. Now I really want a soda. Too early for that. A pine resin waft accompanied the soda smell. Dr. Pepper in the woods. Now I want to go camping. Anyways, both burn off quickly. It turns dark resinous and slightly powdery, but more myrrh frankincense powder, NOT baby powdery. Lovely smooth woody spices that manage to stay out of pepper or old spice territory. I attribute this to the tunisian part of the amber. me and Tunisian anything have a great history. drydown: oppoponax, sweet and dark. The amber powder part passes. The bay tree comes out a little more ensuring the spiciness doesn't fade away. I'm here with a wonderful intoxicating tunisian bay resin smell. I could laze around in this all day. Thanks, Brian.

Wet: getting strong almond marzipan too! Spices in the background but mostly wet, sweet almond paste. Lovely foodiness. Drydown: (distracted as I finally hear the 1st cicada of the year outside.. sweet!!) Ok the spices are a little stronger and this takes the shape of a lovely organic bay rum. The almond burned down to a wonderful toasty brown sweetness in the background and the spices are glowing. I don't really see this as "manly" perse.. a bit gender-neutral for those foodies and spice lovers. I brown wood note develops too, giving it a deep wide base for the spices to bounce around in. I really like it!

From wet to drydown, this stays the same: blue sweet cotton. Ordering this so I have another tolerable clean smell. It's like all those air fresheners and fabric softener that were supposed to make you feel clean, crystalline, and unsoiled. But no chemicals. The pikake and lily are wonderful. Violet leaf was a wise add, as it comes out changing the base structure without screaming "VIOLET!". Agave nectar has a very unique sweetness. It can't be missed here. I really love this one. Not for every day... Just the day after I drowned myself in Hetairae and developed a selective memory about what really happened between the strip club, pizza joint, bar, and diner and how did I get in my bed? Thanks husband! I know, I'm too old for crap like that. hahahaa

If anyone is lamenting the loss of the luau lounge, you might want to get in on this one. It's a mostly virgin fruity cocktail with a splash of liqueur (but not.. it's the herbs and musk.. no booze). Very nice for midnight summer heat parties. The fruit kinda sneaks around while the red musk pervades the general 10 ft area around me. I think this is a perfect rich fruit and herb blend. Good balance with the red musk and all work independently without bashing into or eclipsing each other.

Uhm.. I'm the only one so far that thinks this smells like cologne? My nose isn't blocked up at all. I swear. Wet: the rose otto, orange peel, myrrh, and caraway gang up to almost perfectly replicate something like Eternity or uhm not sure uh some other Calvin Klein cologne..maybe a Marc Jacobs. What the hell? Mainly smells like rose, ambergris, and orange peel. I like it for the nostalgic memories of being a teen in the 90's (guys dowsed themselves in cologne then! agh!) drydown: the rose otto burns down a little, so the spices start to take over. Warm spicy with a rose otto back. Myrrh is still going too. I still can't shake the cologne feeling but this goes from Eternity to Old Spice to spiced rum. Finally, and most strangely, it ends smelling like Perversion. Like exactly like Perversion. What a strange journey. I like it but how weird!