parrot_suspect

It just occurred to me that Vixen might work well for someone who likes Coco (not Coco Mlle). Vixen is not exactly like Coco but it's strong and sexy, and has orange blossom, which I believe Coco has.

ITA with the previous reviewer who said this is just like Burt's Bees Baby Bee products. I used to use Baby Bee Buttermilk Lotion and this smells almost *exactly* like it. It's uncanny! It's creamy and milky, yet not foody; a touch powdery but not really baby-powdery. It doesn't smell like a traditional baby powder or lotion. It's not musky. Definitely a clean and innocent, gentle sort of scent. If you like Burt's Bees products or goat's milk soaps or that sort of thing, you'll definitely like Stinky.

Psychological Horror (a Dark Delicacies exclusive; available now) is the powderiest BPAL scent I know of. It's beautiful. You might be able to score an imp in swaps, if you don't want to purchase a bottle.

 

For something a little deeper and sexier, and in the GC, try Spellbound...it's like powdery, rosy musk.

Beatrice, you might want to try Liz (from the Hellboy line) for Coco Mlle. and Psych Horror or Diabolical Offspring for No. 5. Chrysanthemum Moon is probably the closest thing I've found to Coco, but it's not a smell-alike -- just perfume-y and heady like Coco.

 

Oh, and whoever was asking about Allure...I think Sea of Glass is somewhat similar.

I'm not sure how I missed this when it first appeared, because it's chock-full of notes I love. I decided to take a chance and buy a bottle from a forumite, and I'm glad I did. This is a lovely, warm, complex, amber-y musk. When first applied, it smells almost a bit like men's cologne because of the amber and musk, but it quickly dries down to something more intriguing. The spices and dragon's blood resin come out in the mid-stage and add a sweetness to the blend. In the end it's sort of a golden musk drydown...then it vanishes. My skin eats this oil a bit quicker than I'd prefer, but I still like it. Anactoria reminds me a lot of Bien Loin D'Ici, Coxcomb and other warm, round, smooth, "golden" musky blends. If you like either of those, there's a good chance you'll like Anactoria.

Jupita, Tushnamatay is almost pure, soft sandalwood on me.

 

Morocco is the epitome of a "cozy" sandalwood blend.

I heard elsewhere on the intarweb that "Dragon's Milk" is a total dupe for Bond No. 9's "Chinatown" - as my few decants of that are running out and I can't justify that kind of cost for a bottle, I'm wondering if anyone can verify this or shoot it down?

 

I don't agree with that comparison. Dragon's Milk is very sweet and almondy/vanilla-ish...Chinatown has a lot of "green" notes, IIRC. To me Chinatown is a dead-ringer for Cacharel's Eden. I can't think of a BPAL scent that is truly similar to Chinatown...although I'll say this, if you like Chinatown you will love the new LE Sunbird, which goes live tomorrow

Just this morning I tested Coyote and thought, "That's a really sweet scent." It's not foody in the least. It's sort of sweet and musky.

Have you tried Temple Viper, Chintamani-Dhupa (sp?) or Kathmandu?

I would suggest Event Horizon or Debauchery. Both are dark, yet soft, and have an "enveloping" feel to them, like being wrapped in a dark purple blanket. They are not, however, wet or aquatic. Good luck in your search!

Another beautiful red musk blend from the Lab. This one seems like a sister or cousin to Set v3 in that the red musk gets softer and more sexy as it dries down.

 

I did a side-by-side comparison of Lust v7 to GC Lust. Here are my findings.

 

In the vial, both oils are dark, but GC Lust is darker. Once applied, Lust v7 starts out strong and seems like a cross between Vixen and Scherezade. The patchouli is evident when it's wet, but then it seems to fade away and leaves behind a mellow, yet decadent, red musk and light woods scent. This is in contrast to GC Lust, which starts out syrupy, sweet, rich and almost cola-like but has a lot of patchouli in the drydown. Lust v7 is a more subtle fragrance, but that's not to say it's subtle in general. It has good throw but didn't last terribly long on me; my skin ate it up. It's not a clean musk, but it's not a dirty musk either. It's definitely warm and has a bit of a headshop/incense type of vibe....but not overly so.

 

If you like Scherezade, Spellbound or the original Lust, or musks in general, and a little bit of patchouli won't put you off, you will probably like Lust v7. If you like the original Lust but thought it had too much patchouli, Lust v7 might be right up your alley.

As the name might suggest, Sunbird is warm, spicy and golden. I don't know the notes, but a line from the story might give us a clue:

 

Virginia Boote returned with a filled shopping basket. "Here," she said. "Red sandalwood and patchouli, vanilla beans, lavender twigs and sage and cinnamon leaves, whole nutmegs, garlic bulbs, cloves, and rosemary: everything you wanted and more."

The fragrance starts out as a warm herbal sort of scent and slowly "heats up" as the cinnamon and clove come out. The mid-stage of Sunbird is spectacular, with spices intermingled with herbal and woodsy notes, all over a dark vanilla. In the end the drydown, on me, is all spices. I think I detect cardamom and clove, and definitely some patchouli. Thankfully, there is no garlic!

 

If you like warm and spicy blends such as The Lion, you'll love Sunbird.

 

 

I'm kind of at a loss for how to describe this. It doesn't seem really flowery. I can detect the carnation, yes, but none of the other notes stand out particularly. Like many other Salon scents, this is very well-blended and smooth, with a sophisticated feeling. Sort of an ambery/fresh/green/dusky floral blend. It smells clean without being the least bit soapy. This would be a great fragrance for just about any occasion, I think. You could definitely wear this to the office or out for a nice dinner, but it would be just as much at home at an outdoor cookout or hike in the woods. I don't know what to compare this with, but it's gorgeous, and I'm going to get a big bottle.

On me this starts out lemony. I know, lemon isn't listed as a note, but it smells very lemony and sharp for the first 10 minutes. As it dries down, the creamy, musky notes come out and what I'm left with is a fragrance that smells like a thick white bar of expensive, high quality soap -- like the kind you'd find in a luxury hotel. It stays soapy for hours before it disappears. It is soapy in the best possible way.

With this one I get a kind of soft floral with woods and other unobtrusive base notes. As it dries on my skin, it reminds me a bit of Lucretia from the Salon. It's very subtle and well blended. I don't get any rose from this. It's kind of mysterious, which makes sense given the name.

Liz strikes me as a blend of sweet florals and maybe a slight dash of fruits over a smoky vanilla background. On me this is kind of high pitched and perfumey, in the traditional sense of the word. Kind of like -- oh, I don't know, maybe Dior's J'Adore or Dolce & Gabbana's original fragrance (the one with the red cap)? It's sexy and sophisticated and well blended. It doesn't work well on me, because my skin amps complex florals beyond all reason, but I could see this being amazing on the right person. Very femme fatale.

Absolutely stunning.

 

Do you like powdery scents? If so, you must get this one. It's the most gorgeous, ethereal, powdery-musky blend ever. As it dries down, it loses a little bit of the powder and takes on more of a clean, yet elegant, skin scent.

 

It's not a heavy scent, but it has excellent lasting power. It's the kind of fragrance that makes people say, "You smell good" instead of "What perfume are you wearing?"

 

I really can't praise this enough. It's simply amazing. Not scary, creepy, or disturbing in any way. Just a beautiful, clean, powdery musk. Like you just took a shower and put on the world's very best smelling baby powder deodorant -- something far more sublime than Secret, Degree, etc. -- followed by clean linens that had been dried in the sun. All over a sheer musk skin scent.

 

Must. hoard. mass. quantities.

My almost-8-year-old daughter's favorites are Alice, Strawberry Moon and Pink Phoenix. I have a son, too, who's nearly 7, and after bathtime, before they go to bed, they like if I dab a bit of fragrance on them. I confess I sometimes put a little Somnus on them to help them calm down and go to sleep!

This is very spicy on me. But not sweet, musky, powdery, or vanillic. It reminds me of spiced tea. It's not peppery, and not really cinnamon-y either...just spicy - I guess that's where the clove and/or cardamom come in. Doesn't change much from application to drydown. If you want something that smells like warm, spiced tea, this is it.

Paperrose, that's a great suggestion! Gaueko does have a strong nag champa note. Unfortunately, I'm one of those people whose skin chemistry amps lavender, so on me Gaukeo is very lavender-y. I pretty much only wear it to bed because it makes me want to doze off If Gaueko didn't have lavender it would be the perfect light incense blend for me. I definitely need to check out Defututa.

 

Who knows...maybe Beth has some up and coming blends that will have a lot of nag champa. One can only hope, right??

 

BTW, anyone know the difference between champaca and nag champa? My impression is that Champaca is a flower, and nag champa incense contains essence of champaca along with other scents.

Upon application, this smells almost boozy and brings to mind Smut or Sed non Satiata. That worried me, because my skin amps booze notes and I cannot wear Smut or SNS. However, as soon as the oil dries -- within about 15 minutes -- this settles down to a gorgeous soft red musk with just a touch of fruit and florals (and I do mean just a touch). It's one of the best red musk blends I've ever smelled. I'm not getting any earth, dirt, vetiver, or anything unpleasant at all in the drydown; just a red musk with a little bit of floral to sweeten it up. I think I may like Set v3 even better than Scherezade, which is one of my top five favorites.

 

If you like Spellbound, Dragon's Musk or Scherezade, I think you'll love Set v3.

TAL La Flamme. It's a cousin to Snake Oil, scent-wise, with a spicy, haunting drydown.

*raises hand* Headshop Girl reporting in with a new find.

 

Chintamani-Dhupa (sp?) smells like light nag champa on me. Lovely!

 

I second the previous rec of Black Lotus for a light incense scent for summer.

 

I wish there were such a thing as a slightly toned-down Urd, because it's a great scent, just sometimes a little bit too much, with the grape note and all, for hot weather. On me, at least.

I bought a bottle of this a while ago. It's a lovely blend...I got it for the scent and not because of the Tarot association.

 

I don't find this a very "dark" or heavy scent. To me this smells like a musky/herbal blend with a dash of civet (but not too much -- just enough to give it depth). What really won me over on The Devil was the drydown. The drydown, on me, is powdery and smells a *lot* like my beloved, long-discontinued Unseelie. Soft, powdery -- hard to describe, but just a wonderful scent.

Tetramorph, to my nose, has a lot of honey in it.

 

From the GC, I reach for Skuld when I want a non-foody honey blend.