parrot_suspect

wasn't sure where to post this, does anything ever smell like unseelie? i've heard johnson baby powder but i would like something more refined:) and readily available as well:) any help is appreciated!

 

Looking at the note list, it seems like it's a grassy floral scent. Having not tried it myself, which notes ar dominant on you?

 

For grass and floral notes, you might look at Garden Path with Chickens, in the Salon, The Apothocary in Illyria, Amsterdam or Glascow from Wanderlust, or layering Squirting Cucumber from Rappaccini's Garden over a light floral.

 

If you want something to get across the misty or otherworldly qualities the reviewers were mentioning for Unseelie, try Moonshine and Mist, from Marchen.

Unseelie is one of my favorite oils, and I cherish my small stash of it. Although the description says it is grassy and floral, most people find it to be very powdery. I don't consider it floral at all. It's hard to describe -- it's sort of silky, soft and mysterious. I'm pretty sure it contains amber or ambergris as a base note. If you've never smelled it, for reference purposes I think it smells a bit like Bourbon French Kus Kus or Guerlain L'Heure Bleue.

Right now the closest GC scent to Unseelie, I think, is Old Scratch. There's another discontinued oil (discontinued, but easier to find in swaps than Unseelie) called Tarot: The Devil that smells remarkably similar to Unseelie. Another one worth checking out is Psychological Horror, which is sold only through Dark Delicacies. Psych Horror is more straight-up musky baby powder, whereas Unseelie is a bit more herbal-powdery and nuanced.

Bumping topic for reviews of Frederic 2012!

I'm very familiar with Tibetan Mountain Temple -- it's my favorite Pacifica candle, too! In the BPAL lineup, there are plenty of scents with incense and woodsy notes, but in my opinion, the one that comes closest to Mountain Temple is the Salon blend, And There Was a Great Cry in Egypt. It's smooth, woodsy and calming.

I adore this scent. It's sweet, ambery, musky incense with a powdery drydown. The oil suits its moniker very well -- it seems "velvety" and dense. A pleasure to wear, especially in cold weather.

From the GC, Skuld is a good, non-fruity, non-boozy honey scent. And I agree with the recommendations of Against Idleness and Mischief and The Lights of Men's Lives.

I found The Arbor very similar to Mme. Moriarty. You might also consider Lust or Semiramis.

I have not found anything that's really close to Snake Charmer. However, you may want to give The Grindhouse a try, if you can find it. It's got a similar vibe (floral-oriental, vanilla-musk). The Velvets, which I believe is still available, is another one that's worth a shot (musky incense).

Werewolfguy: You might want to have a look at this thread for some thoughts on why certain oils smell like baby powder on some people.

You could also try searching swaps for Smoky Moon. That definitely has a tobacco leaf note.

One of my favorite BPAL fragrances is Dragon's Musk. Dragon's Heart is kind of like a variation on the dragon's blood + musk theme; to me, it seems a bit more floral and feminine than Dragon's Musk. It somehow manages to be soft and kind of sharp (with a kind of high-pitched, sweet floral note) all at the same time. I am not picking up the fig note at all.

Dragon's Heart is a little bit soapy, a little bit sweet, but overall, it's just a great combination of sweet incense + musk + lilac-y florals with a powdery, pleasant drydown.

On me, this smells a lot like Gaueko. It's kind of like a mix of nag champa, amber and musk, but with another note in there that is kind of sharp and strident and really doesn't agree with me.

On paper, this sounds like it would be perfect, because I love almost all of the notes listed, but it just doesn't work on my skin.

Oh my god. I have totally fallen in love with this oil.

In the bottle, this smells like a spicy, musky, masculine, *almost* (but not quite) unpleasant chemical scent. I get why someone compared it to WD-40. Not that I think it smells like that, but at first whiff, there is something about this that's almost scary -- like it's going to be too much to handle. Once applied on the skin, however, everything changes. The Siberian musk, clove and pepper mingle and create a dark, spicy, musky, unisex sort of scent. However, this is not super spicy or "peppery" in the sense that some oils are; it's smooth, not harsh. As it continues to dry down, the neroli, tonka and opoponax combine to help sweeten the Siberian musk (which is the dominant note, by far, in this oil, and is noticeably present at every stage) and the most delicious animalic, dark, sweet, sexy musk comes out, with a beautiful sillage that surrounds you like a sweet, sinister cloud. There's something slightly redolent of root beer, cola or Dr. Pepper, but not overly so. It's simply gorgeous, and very sophisticated.

Old Demons is so evocative. Here are some of the images it brings to mind:

-A black cashmere sweater

-A beautiful Russian spy wearing a fur coat and hat, high heels and red lipstick

-The dance floor at a goth nightclub, with people on the sidelines dressed in black, smoking clove cigarettes

-A black and white film noir

I could see men wearing this; it would certainly qualify as unisex. But to me it's more of a feminine fragrance overall, with that sweet-ish, dark musk and resin, cola/root beer drydown. Very femme fatale; but on the flip side, there's also something "clean" and just plain good-smelling here. It's the perfect fragrance to complement, and yet help warm, a cold, dark winter's night.

Try Old Demons if you like any of these oils (and be sure to give it time to develop and settle down on your skin; you will be amazed at the drydown): Siberian Musk Single Note, Event Horizon, Debauchery, Vixen, Schwarzer Mond, Tarot: Judgment, The Anti-Saloon League

Do you wish you had a bottle of White Musk Single Note? Buy this. It dries down to smell exactly like it.

If you like crystalline musks, light florals, or "clean" fragrances, you'll like this. It's a bit sharp at first, but softens on the drydown. It reminds me a little bit of Bonne Bell Skin Musk.

I was testing Frumious Bandersnatch the other day and noticed it smelled very, very similar to Hellion.

Pulse Points (the version that was released about 2 years ago as part of a Dark Delicacies trunk show) is pure, straight-up, soft, humid honeysuckle on me. If you can find it in swaps, I think you'd love it.

Old Demons of the First Class is a good one to try if you like clove cigarettes. It isn't super heavy on the cloves, but it has a distinct dark/nightclub type of vibe and a gorgeous, deep, musky drydown. Plus, it's a GC!

My bottle is 567, received in swap, previously reviewed here and here,

Opening the bottle, a wonderful powdery scent comes wafting out. It's soft and sweet, but not foody or buttery in any way. Incense-y, but not headshoppy. Kind of like vanilla nag champa. No plastick-y notes to be found anywhere. A previous reviewer described this as "fluffy" and I can see why.

Upon application, I'm getting more of the soft woods and nag champa,maybe a bit of golden amber. But as it dries down, a sweet dark vanilla drydown becomes more apparent, intermingling with the nag champa and powdery notes. Could it be musk that's making it so powdery? I am a powder fiend and this powdery, incensey drydown pleases me immensely. It has wonderful throw and surrounds me like a soft powdery cloud.

In any case, this bottle has found a permanent home with me; I adore this scent and can only wish it weren't a CT because if it were a regular oil, it would warrant mass hoarding and multiple backups.

For those of you mourning the loss of Black Opal -- have you ever tried Black Lace (the non-apple version)? I know, it's not exactly easy to find, but to me it's similar to Black Opal. It lacks that "mineral-y" note of Black Opal, but it has the same dark, soft vanilla.

For other scent-clone seekers...

 

Does anyone know of any BPAL scents that are close to Chantilly by Dana? My childhood perfume collection would be complete with that one.

I love Chantilly. My Gran wore it all the time, and anyone who knows me knows I LOVE grandma scents! I still use the dusting powder in the summer.

Run, don't walk, to the BPAL website and order Jacob's Ladder from the Yule LEs. It is SO much like Chantilly, you won't believe it! Sweet amber deliciousness.

I have found a new favorite to add to my Top Ten. I've always like dragon's blood as a note, but for some reason I overlooked this blend, perhaps because it's not in the Ars Draconis line. Frankly, it would fit perfectly there; it has a lot in common with those oils. It starts out with the dragon's blood being the dominant note -- heady and somewhat floral, but in a good way (bear in mind I am a not a fan of overly floral scents) -- and then as it dries down, the amber makes itself known. Soon what develops is an incensey, yet sweet and kind of bright scent. Clean, but not soapy or sharp. Musky. It has a Ren-Faire type of vibe, but it's not hippie-ish, smoky, murky, earthy or spicy. Perfectly balanced. It's one of those rare scents that crosses boundaries; you could wear this to work, or for a night out, or even a night in. It just smells really, really good and "blooms" on the skin. I've received several compliments on this.

Although probably not an exact match, Vasilissa reminds me a bit of those innocent-smelling colognes we wore as little girls.

There had been a previous request for Emeraude by Coty, but I was hoping with additional details I might get some great scent recommendations for me to get my mom for Christmas.

My recommendation: Haunted. It has the same citrusy opening and amber-y drydown.

Okay, so my current favorite fragrance of all-time (on myself) is Moonlight Path from Bath and Body Works

On me, Moonlight Path is very white-musk-y. I have found BPAL's The Girl very similar to Moonlight Path. The Girl isn't easy to find, though.

Would anyone happen to be able to name off some BPAL scents similar to Sandalwood Vanilla? I loved how perfectly creamy and smooth it smelled.

Have you tried Morocco or Tushnamatay?

Here are a few more you may like, in case they weren't mentioned yet:

Vixen

Lust

Blood Amber

Event Horizon

Debauchery

Dragon's Claw

Kathmandu

Haunted

Have fun sampling!

Tativa, is it possible golden champa could be the same thing as champaca? There are many BPAL blends that list champaca as an ingredient...you could always do a search in the reviews section and it will pull up blends that have champaca.

Try Sudha Segara or Sea of Glass.