plainjean

Thank you! Grave loam and I do get along pretty well, so I will definitely look into it!

This talk of Hope reminded me... Are there any GCs similar to Faith? Violet Ray was my sugared-violet scent, but, well.. She's gone now.

When wet, this is predominantly rose geranium. Which apparently translates to rose soap on me. Not promising. But when it dries down..it's actually quite lovely! A sweet and creamy floral with just a touch of spice, way in the background. I also finally get a hint of plum, which I was missing from the wet stage. I think I need to try this one a few more times. ETA: After wearing this for several hours, it has dried down to the loveliest smoky, sweet plum. I believe it's the same plum in Prunella, though that can be too sweet for me sometimes, what with the added cream.

On me, it's lush, velvety red roses and saffron, with frankincense floating around in the background. There's a touch of honey to sweeten it. The honey in this reminds me of Door and Deadly Nightshade Honey (both of which contain my favorite BPAL honey). In a way, it smells like Turkish delight, but, well, I'm odd and I adore the scent of Turkish delight.

You know, I'm kind of digging this. See, I love alcoholic notes that don't make me smell like I've been drinking the night away, and Twenty-One definitely falls into the category of "not overtly boozy". On me, Twenty-One is so insanely fresh and bright and crisp. There's a bit of citrus that makes it really effervescent, but I can't quite identify the citrus. I know it's not lemon. Though, hm..I do agree with a previous reviewer that it's a bit like lemongrass. I'm finding it really hard to describe this using notes rather than adjectives, haha. It's just so refreshing and—thank goodness—doesn't go to bathroom cleaner on me like so many other "bright" scents.

I hardly ever put oil in my hair, because it always has the possibility of making my hair really oily if I accidentally put in too much. But when I do it, I put a little in the palm of my (clean) hand and rub my hands together and then run that through the ends of my hair (I choose the ends because those are drier than the rest of my hair. Therefore they won't get as greasy as easily as the rest. Also, they could use the extra moisture ). I just find that easier than running the wand through my hair, which never seems to distribute the oil evenly enough for my liking (On my hair, I mean! I love wands for skin application, haha).

I can really only echo what everyone else has been saying. Try everything, even if you don't think you'll like it. For me, I always test with the notes of the scent in front of me or, at least, a computer nearby. I will try to pick out the different parts at first, but if I'm stumped, I'll refer back to the list. I also agree with ModderRhu. Try some simpler blends first and see if you can pick out the different notes in those. That way you'll have a sense of what some notes smell like. And then, really, just go from there. I'm going to say it again for emphasis: Try everything! I've only been buying/swapping BPAL for a few months, and already my nose has become more sophisticated, because I try every scent I get (Well, okay..that's not entirely true. I will not try anything that is heavy on the vetiver. It smells awful on me, and I don't want to put myself through that torture, thankyouverymuch ). Also, re: identifying amber and vetiver. Maybe get a scent that you know what all the other notes smell like, except the amber/vetiver. That might help you to pick out the anomaly (in other words, the amber or vetiver) and figure out what it smells like. You need to keep in mind, though, that no note is necessarily the same from blend to blend.

I know I pride myself on trying every blend, but I just couldn't with this. One sniff from the imp, and I was knocked over by salty, weirdly tangy vetiver. Vetiver is my archnemesis, and I just can't bring myself to do a skin test with this. I predict it would be straight vetiver (which translates to "barbeque in hell" on me).

Ugh. It's a slightly less-rancid O on me. Cloyingly sweet and really off-smelling.

I got mostly pine from Hermes Trismegistus v2. I know there's another pine blend that I've tried, but I just can't seem to be able to think of it right now! ETA: I remembered! Ogun had a pine-and-melon feel to me. The pine is probably just the gin or juniper, but still.

We have a rose bush outside our kitchen window, and The Rose smells exactly like that. Pure, unadulterated, fresh roses. Perhaps a bit sun-warmed, with a little lingering dew. But, overall, it's a lush, velvety red rose, leaves and all. ETA: Also, can I just say that I'm beyond thrilled that this works on me? Beauty and the Beast is my favorite fairy tale.

Samhain 2010, and then after it had worn off a bit I added some Punkie Night 2010. Now it's mostly just the Punkie Night, though, with a little bit of Samhain underneath.

I find that Black Pearl (Bewitching Brews) and Lamia (Neverwhere) are extremely similar, though I prefer Lamia. It has this subtle smokiness to it, which makes the whole coconut concept much more sophisticated and interesting. But, to me, they're both dark coconut blends. Lamia notes: pale orchid, vanilla amber, black currant, white peach, champaca, coconut, Arabian myrrh, Burmese vetiver, and oude. Black Pearl notes: coconut, Florentine iris, hazelnut and opalescent white musk.

I love my wand caps. If I don't know if I'm keeping the bottle, though, I'll flip it, and then apply the oil to my wrist/hand/whatever with the bit on the little nub on the inside of the cap. Once I figure out I like it, I'll switch that cap to a wand cap. And I always, always apply to clean skin.

I never can smell anything when I'm sick, but when I'm starting to feel a little under the weather, I love to break out my Bastet, The Unicorn, or Green Tree Viper. The first is powdery, spicy, sexiness that is basically the fuzzy blanket of scents for me; the second is a little herbal/medicinal, but it's head-clearing and really pretty; and the last is Snake Oil and crazy mint that knocks out headaches and makes me feel more alert.

I might be completely off, but metallic plus aquatic automatically registers as The Robotic Scarab (Polished metallic notes, glossy leather, frankincense, star anise, and thin lubricating oils) in my mind. --- As for my costume this year.. I was going to get all Steampunk'd out, but I was having trouble gathering the things I needed. So now I'm just going the classic 50s/vintage/kind-of-pinup-but-not-really route. I can't decide what I should wear. I'm kind of leaning toward Sibyl or Sara Pezzini, which are both classy with an edge on me. But I could be really cheeky and just throw on Perversion or something like that. I don't know, I'll probably just pick something based on my mood that day.

This is pretty, it really is. But..it’s kind of turning to fruity-floral shampoo. Actually, now that I think about it, the shampoo it smells like? Herbal Essences Drama Clean. Which is nice, I suppose..but I don’t want my perfume to smell like shampoo. I blame the apple blossom and calla lily mix for making it go to shampoo.

Oy. Tea rose and patchouli. I don’t get anything but those two notes. Sad, because I love vanilla bourbon, and pink pepper has grown on me. But nope. Powdery roses and patchouli, and so not for me.

It’s..pretty. Inoffensive, and definitely has a hazy feel to it. Floral, with a little juicy fruitiness from the white peach. It has a little bit of subtly sparkly creaminess, I’m assuming due to a combination of the white wine grape and the cream accord. The jasmine isn’t stinky at all, which is awesome. But still, I just don’t think this is a floral for me.

This makes me so sad. Skin musk is usually wonderful on me, and I’m starting to love carnation more and more. But this..the patchouli takes over! It’s floral, kind of dusty patchouli.

Really pretty. Definitely a vanilla "perfume" scent. It reminds me a lot of Sara Pezzini, with that sort of worn, sweaty-but-not-stinky leather smell. It’s lived-in, and it’s comfortable. I don’t want to say it’s masculine, exactly, but it’s not completely feminine. I suppose I’d call it feminine with an edge.

Dove soap. Plain and simple. Sigh.. I was really hoping to at least get some ambergris out of this.

Spicy, dusty cocoa and smoky, sweet incense. There's a little bit of a burnt vanilla thing going on, but I'm kind of loving that aspect of it. The tequila isn't overpoweringly tequila, which is great. The tequila and jalapeños just sort of add a bit of something interesting in the background. I'm finding that most booze notes work really well on me, though. I've been having a rough day, and immediately after I put it on, I felt calmer and more relaxed. It's definitely a comfort scent for me. Now to figure out how to justify purchasing multiple bottles of it.

I really, really love this. To me, it's like a mixture of Mme Moriarty (without the patchouli) and Kyoto. The anise is strong, but not overpowering, and it helps to balance the sweetness of the red musk and the sometimes-overpowering tartness of the pomegranate. The cocoa isn't overtly cocoa, and, really, everything is just blended really well. (Well, the scent is, I mean. The oil, however..it's practically impossible to fully integrate the cocoa into the rest of the oil! ) I do see the comparisons to Bath and Body Works Midnight Pomegranate, though this is much more smooth and beautiful, and it, of course, lacks that somewhat overpowering perfume-y note of the B&BW scent. It's nice and long-lasting, too, which is great. I put it on before bed last night, and can still smell it this morning (approx. six hours later).

Samhain with roses. Seriously, that's all I'm getting. It's pretty, but I've already got Samhain, so..