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At first I think this is going to be all Parma violet candy: sweeeeeet, vivid violet! Drying out, though, this smells like such a grand nod to Après L'ondée I think I might cry. Violet and orris dry down, seem to crystalize, and smell like bubbles. Osmanthus and mint create light, spectrum colors, behaving...not at all garish, overt, or competitive with the violet. The oppoponax...oh, how I looooove oppoponax and her smoldering, sweet ways....is the shadow to the bubbles light in the drydown. Truly, I think this is my favorite BPAL violet.

Eat Me and Snake Oil are sweet scents that really last.

I do SO wish this was GC!!! I love it so very, very much. It's DENSE, has TONS of throw, and wears on and on. It's a showstopper, a crowdpleaser, it fills the room, just like I love a rich fragrance to do. It is THE patchouli vanilla to forsake all others. It is the olfactory Boho Chic. It feels so right on me, any time of day or night, fresh out of the shower or day old skank, it still fits in. I CRAVE it. The vanilla is rich and black. The patchouli is both earthy and creamy, lifted by the hemp. Glorious. Perfection. Pleeeeeeease, WE WANT MORE!!!!

Initially this smells like walking through the farmers market, dewy grass and all! It becomes a little floral, then, dried out, I really smell like I've just made a salad!

Oh, yeah. I get a blast of Banshee Beat patchouli (so, so, so happy!!!), then tangy teak, and the drydown...swoon! The osmanthus is prominent, just as I hoped, which smells a bit like apricot pit, but also grassy. It's really brilliant with the patchouli and woods, which dry down considerably quickly, because it is at the same time quiet and deep, with this little breeze of musk. It reminds me of warm skin, like a Depraved light (patchouli and apricot-yum) but cleaner and slightly sweeter. It fades very quickly and wears close to the skin. It's fluttery and springlike, but also earthy; I don't consider this very floral or vanillic- more like fruity/woody. It's very natural smelling. I've been wearing it in the evening when I want something soft and comforting. She's a keeper, for sure.

This is JUST what I wanted it to be! It's green yet soft, deep, and sweetly resinous. There's a swift clearing of the mind with the herbs (I'm SO glad it's not too minty or lavendery!), and then it becomes softly powdery and classic with a strong galbanum undertone. I love the gramma's purse finish to the thick dragon's blood note. I find it very, very comforting.

Dance of Death, man. LOVE it. "A gloriously elegant representation of Lady Death. Dry, bone-white orris, black musk, serpentine patchouli and our murkiest myrrh"

Dance of Death

Mouse's Long, Sad, Tale

This smells like home to me...drinking tea, someone's smoking a clove cigarette, and wearing patchouli.

I think this smells like yuzu fresh on. Drying out, it's bright green with sexy creamy honey! This smells like SPRING! Drying out, the ash manna gets kind of dusty and I still love it!

While not the exact notes your looking for, you might want to try Lurid: it's got a piercing ozone top (like lavender can be) with a rich, sweet, resinous dry-down, and is very gothy.

and Womb Furie!!

Croquet gets a lot of SPRING reviews. I'm gonna try it in my next order. I like Haunted and Debauchery for my dry animalistics, and Fae for her sweet airyness.

Let's talk about soothing nausea with BPAL!!! My son started chemo this week and is extremely nauseous. I know that peppermint, anise, and lavender are traditionally used in aromatherapy for nausea, but I wanted to start a thread of BPALs that people have found helpful. I have NO scents like this so right now I'm not wearing any BPAL. Well, and he HATES like the smell of medicine, and lavender and mint smell like medicine and toothpaste to me. He does NOT like the smell of lemon, ginger or lavender, either. Says they smell like cleaning products and medicine. He's been loving the smell of clean blankets, but the thing with scent like that on my skin is that they go really sharp. I like scents that are creamy. He told me that Dragon's Milk would be OK (that's been his comfort scent since he was a toddler) but I am afraid he'll develop an aversion to it through all the nausea, and that would be sad! I'm thinking maybe Snow White would work, maybe Lick It, maybe Breathless Horror (white musk and thick olibanum with niaouli, carrot seed, white mint, and camphor-scared of the camphor, though); maybe Colder and Colder (Peppermint, spearmint, white musk, and elemi settling into a deepening darkness). I'll have to wait for reviews. Hm. I used to wear Lurid (lavender, white musk, and ozone). I'm a heavy resin/incense lovin' Momma. I still want to smell like perfume, but one that doesn't make my kid puke! I know it's a very individual thing. Even day to day different smells really get to him. I just need to expand my repertoire outside my comfort zone and it's kind scary! I hope that this thread will be helpful to others, though, not just chemo patients.

Update: 5 rounds of chemo (it sucks but he's doing great-one more round to go...fingers crossed!) and is favorites are (still) Snake Oil, Dragon's Milk, and, now, White Light. He also likes the smell of baby lotion and frankincense & myrrh.

I am SO loving this!!! I almost bought a bottle unsniffed but I didn't because I was scared of the leather. HAVE NO FEAR! Wet, the resin and honey is very zingy, slightly woody. The leather is smooth and sweet, like kid gloves. The tobacco is rich, dark, and sweetened by the honey. Dried out, this is a very complex blend that is both clean and sweet. I love, love, love it, and my skin does, too!! It really reminds me quite a bit of how the Illustrated Woman feels on me, which makes me very happy!

Ecstatic Revelry...oooh, la, la!

I always make sure I wear LOTS of STRONG, SWEET, PATCHOULI, and MUSK all the time, especially when I'm in enclosed spaces!!! I highly recommend Snake Oil. And by LOTS I mean: turn the bottle on my wrist 3-5 times and rub from my head to the backs of my knees. Seriously. Even people in elevators drool. I can hear people through doors or at the end of corridors asking what smells so good in the building all the time.

I'm an O lover and have to also 2nd: Haunted, Womb Furie, Dragon's Milk, Bastet, Lights of Men's Lives and will add Thousands of Lights (it's like Bastet light, to me-super snuggly) Door-for a punchier honey Tobacco Honey-smokey, sexy honey

My thoughts, exactly. Words like "frankincense", "nutty", and "citrusy" were scaring me off but I love this. It's my favorite Yule this year. It's like the breath of Bastet and Lights of Men's Lives come together with this unspecific "holiday" smell in the background-kind of spicy and incensey in that special Christmas way. Frankincense tends to get high pitched on me, but it's really behaving itself here. It's a soft, creamy, saffrony, incense scent that just...smells like the golden lights of the season. Perfect in every way I was hoping (I immediately sought out more than my decant).

Thank you all for your suggestions and well wishes!

I'll go look up Snowblind. He just said, "Mommy you stink like a too clean hospital. You don't smell like you". AWH! He says that Snake Oil wouldn't make him sick!

Dragon's Tears/Heart

This is like Satan's pumpkin pie! It's reeeally spicy-I won't be putting it in my bath or on freshly bathed skin for fear of my cinnamon sensitivity acting up. The pumpkin is buttery, and honey is musky and sweet (omg love, love, love), and the spice and booze keep it dark and sexy. All dried out, though, I can see where Aldercy gets bannabread!! What a morpher.