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Fae's white musk is nomnom airy sweet...

Bumping this thread because it is Spring and I'm craving green but I'm being a picky brat! I'm obsessing over Hemlock Honey, but I'm looking for something else complex, bright green on top, with a creamy, musky drydown. Not too appley, sour, teaish, airy, dank (I have plenty of those!), or identifiably herbally. Recommendations are always appreciated.

This scent is so wonderfully silky, soft, and deep. I smell her as Dance of Death's burial shroud-a similar creamy, musky, powdery orris, but lighter and sweeter with the ambery note that really smells white to me, perhaps because the ambergris gives it a lift... hauntingly beautiful...

Hetairae

Ooooh, YEAH! Lots of my favorites out there! DH is usually the Bow and Crown wearer but I'm snaggin' it! (Slathered on the rest of his last imp-NAUGHTY!)

That's me all over! Hecate Baset Fae Le Lethe Mme Moriarty Depraved (swollen apricot...rawr!) O The Lights of Men's Lives What have you got already?

Gilded pomegranate incense...This is every bit as awesome as I thought it would be. All are notes of win for me except for rose (behave!), and osmanthus (you apricot tart-I never seem to be able to get along with your usual crowd). Everything is blending beautifully- deeply resinous and sweet, brightened by pomegranate, with a golden honey and osmanthus flesh, and a bit of fresh green stem (as some BPAL honeys go). The rose does what I like rose to do-simply harmonize a blend, not standing out too much-getting a little dusty with the myrrh. It does not smell too flippant or fun like many fruity blends do to me...it's flirtatious but sophisticated and serious, like a more grown up Berry Moon, really. It suits me well, I think.

White leather and sandalwood. This is WHITE...like what I want all the white musks to smell like without all the fruit and flowers. It does not smell like horses or cars or tack to me at all. If I'd sniffed it blind, I would have guessed Egyptian musk and light, tangy sandalwood. It's like Morocco's vial essence. It's fresh, yet modern, complex, creamy, and unisex. I could see "cologney", but I've never smelled one as glorious. I usually like dark, heavy scents, but this one has me smitten! A bottle is going to the top of the list, and my partner and I are gonna have to fight over who's BPAL cabinet it goes in!

I love, love, love, love myrrh!!! This one is rich, bittersweet, and animalic, almost like a black musk with spice. Yes, it's a bit powdery, with a dusty soft floral top, but overall it's very potent, dark, and mysterious. I slather and I swoon....

WINTER SOLSTICE LUNAR ECLIPSE Thy shadow, Earth, from Pole to Central Sea, Now steals along upon the Moon’s meek shine In even monochrome and curving line Of imperturbable serenity. How shall I link such sun-cast symmetry With the torn troubled form I know as thine, That profile, placid as a brow divine, With continents of moil and misery? And can immense Mortality but throw So small a shade, and Heaven’s high human scheme Be hemmed within the coasts yon arc implies? Is such the stellar gauge of earthly show, Nation at war with nation, brains that teem, Heroes, and women fairer than the skies? On December 21st, the longest night of 2010, a total lunar eclipse will occur. There will be seventy-two minutes of glorious totality while the moon is enveloped in a cloak of luminous, blood-tinged amber. Totality will begin at 11:41 pm Black Phoenix Standard Time. If this isn’t a magical night, I don’t know what is. A voluptuous and brittle blend of lunar oils and white chypre shimmering with darkly glowing red musk, golden amber, black currant, patchouli, rose peppercorn, blackberry, ylang ylang, and daemonorops astride Yuletide’s holly berry, white pine, winter rose, and myrrh. In the bottle, I smell the resins and herbs...strange and potion-like, like a tincture, almost, or a gentleman's drink (Sazerac?). When I put it on, the white, sappy, needley notes come out, and it's nearly citrusy. The berries seem unripe in their tartness. It is very foresty, alive, with a flashing bite, (it's a little scary!) and a sturdy base. Drying down,the scent mellows and redish golden brown notes emerge. The amber and patchouli make it slightly powery and warm, but the scent dosn't loose its lift. I appreciate the brightness with the depth-it represents the concept so well. It truly fades from white to red amber. I wouldn't call it sweet,though, even with the berries and dragon's blood, which is suprising. I don't usually wear chypres, but I am loving how complex and natural this scent is-and I'd call it more an oriental chypre. I find it very stimulating, uplifting even. I needed something like this when it is so cold and dark. Sometimes scents I find comforting can become overwhelming when the house is too warm or there have been too many sweets offered. The sillage is strong at first but it mellows considerably and the wearlength is medium on me. I would call it gender neutral and brilliant.

Bumping this thread again because we are graced with the honor of being able to sniff: Golgothan Myrrh SN. Oooooh! I WONder!!!

Add Heretic to the list! Dark, spicy, animalic: Nagdi frankincense, bois de cade, beeswax, Somalian myrrh, and Laotian oudh (I've snagged a bottle of But Men Loved Darkness Rather Than Light, as well).

I'm a total whore for myrrh, and adding beeswax and oudh to the mix made me just throb with anticipation. Frankincense does not usually place nice with my skin, but he's behaving himself here-not too screechy-just brightening up the rest of the blend, almost entirely made base notes (woot, woooot!). It's pretty darn earthy and gritty, and like sunshinedaisybliss, I'm really surprised patchouli isn't listed, or, I may add, even vetiver. Honestly, it's not as sweet as I expected, though there is that chewiness in the drydown that I love SO MUCH in BPAL's resin/beeswax scents. On me, it wears close to the skin and has a medium wearlength. I find it to be kin to Old Demons of the First Class and Serpent's Kiss (haven't been graced with the above mentioned Panther Moon). It's definitely worth the bit of trouble to grab yourself a bottle if you are into this type of scent. I'm gladz I'z gots one...

Vampire Bride is both refreshing and a creamy skin scent. I find it captivating. There is a citrusy tea note at the beginning that I don't usually go for in a fragrance, but it is quickly backed up by the musk, making it blush pink, but not in overtly girly way. There is a delicious dusty sweetness on the drydown, and the blend between the florals and resins is seamless. In the end, it smells like...icy skin. I think of her as Snow White's evil, blond sister.

This scent is complex and full of contrast. The violet is very prominent, made even more zingy by the tea and lily. It's a very indolic floral, given some rich sweetness from the Siberian musk. It wears close to the skin and is both comforting, old fashioned, and sexy. I love it. It's a Spring scent I can wear, and one of my favorite BPAL violets.

Bastet, Dragon's Milk

Hetairae!:The sublimely beautiful, fiercely independent, impeccably cultured, fascinatingly worldly and witty courtesans of ancient Greece. A seductive and dazzling blend of golden honey, fiery patchouli, sweet fig and clove, and a blushing touch of ylang ylang.

I find BPAL musks so soothing...sensual...and wearable...especially the dark, powdery ones mixed with patchouli. To put one on, I feel instantly dressed in effortless, comfortable sophistication, day or night. Dance of Death, baby: A gloriously elegant representation of Lady Death. Dry, bone-white orris, black musk, serpentine patchouli and our murkiest myrrh. I wear Snake Oil almost exclusively to work and so many people openly appreciate it. The Siberian musk and vanilla just smell like my skin but better. We are all animals, after all... Both of those and Haunted are my modern Shalimars (which I also wear from time to time, but it is overtly nostalgic, and not BPAL). I wear Le Lethe a lot at home because it's very intimate and has a shorter wearlength: Red musk and sweat-damp golden skin musk with labdanum, golden amber, nutmeg, tobacco absolute, black orchid, and hemlock accord. It's deep, yet soft, like a thick down quilt for the soul. Mme Moriarty is my most worn red musk. Sometimes reds can be spicy yet fleeting, but the patchouli and vanilla keep her going strong enough to go out on the town-sillage like "Woah!" so much I get complements in smokey bars (YEAH!). Dragon's Musk is a catalog must try-I think it has every musk in the book and can go just about anywhere. I couldn't do Dorian (I think it was the tea-too tingy for my chemistry), but I can do Crowley, which I find richer and creamier:Infernal musk, red patchouli, lilac cologne, mahogany, lemon rind, oakmoss, leather, and vanilla husk.

Le Lethe, Shub, and Heretic (I hear! Waits, with bated breath...).

Jonesing for Hand of Glory, I tried the Lights of Men's Lives and was temporarily appeased. The waxiness is similar, minus the smoke and nutmeg.

I know I keep raving about it, and some may think it is a stretch, but the Book! It's sweet, dusty, and rich.

This scent smells like it could be a Weenie. It has a dark, autumny, sweet feel to it. The wood is soft, and there is a tang that I read as cider, before knowing the notes. There is dust there, but it's mostly warm and spicy. I'm very fond of it, and glad it's GC!

This is my new precious! "Yellow", and "leather" were giving me great pause, but I have a very close relationship with books in general, and appreciated that The Book is honored here as a character, so I had to give this baby a go. This does NOT smell like chemically mall leather, or soft Ren Fair leather, or horse tack, or slick S&M black leather. This smells like a leather lined smoking room in a mansion full of dusty old books, seeped in years of cigar smoke and bourbon...and incense...like a creepy bedtime storybook...It has PRESENCE and BOLDNESS, and is a bit disturbing, but is so warm and wearable. You all might think I'm crazy, because it doesn't share notes at all, save for a creamy, vanillicundertone, but this scent FEEEEEELS like Banshee Beat and U Mutter Museum got together and wrote it all down. I'm in. :love!:

This is my favorite musk. Hands down. Ever. It is the vital essence of Snake Oil and Old Demons of the First Class, and other such delicious, sultry blends. I notice a note a bit like anise with it's spicy bitterness, or cola syrup, in that ambery Youth Dew way. Way more than that, though, is the indescribable muskiness of it all: round, sound, and sensual, like soft but clean underparts...animalic in a "it's so good it's bad" way. It stays close to the skin, wears warm and soft, and dries out lightly sweet. There is nothing else like it. I'm glad I snatched up some bottles.

I don't know why I've never tried this. I'm pretty ashamed of myself, really, because I ADORE it, and my partner loves it on me, too (He said: "That's the best kind of filthy!"). I've tried to love Samhain over the years, but I find it too sharp and acidic on my skin, though I think it's brilliant. Samhainophobia is like the fruit in Samhain got cooked down to a sticky reduction, then the creamiest vetiver ever (a note I struggle with, but do sometimes really like...as in Blood Kiss, and Great He Goat), and a big drop of U Mutter Museum was added (dry and balsamy), and the whole blend got aged to perfection-a dark skin scent that is just my style. Holla!!!! It's a serious perfume with a silly name. I hope it comes back in 2012!!!