Lady_Fire

Very warm scent, a little tropical. The coconut is not suntan lotion coconut, but more of a fresh cracked coconut. The florals are there, but they arent overwhelming. As someone who dislikes most florals, this is OK. I'm not smelling any resins, but maybe they will come out with some age.

Tooth achingly sweet. I can definitely smell the floral honeysuckle. There is something fruity that must be the fig. Honestly, this is just way to sweet and floral for me. It is a little cloying and makes me feel kind of nauseous when I sniff it directly.

This was straight black licorice on me. It actually made me feel slightly sick. Eventually (after more than an hour) the licorice scent faded and I was left with a gorgeous fougere. I never really got the vanilla and there wasnt even a hint of incense. The patch and licorice were the main notes on me. I'm going to let it settle for a bit then retest and pray the anise note calms down.

I revisted this today and got much less of the anise scent. I am hopeful that it will continue to fade as it ages so the other notes will come out more. It was more sweet and earthy this time around. Really nice actually. I will give it another test in a month or two!

So I'm really super terrible at picking out scents, but for you guys I'll do my best. On me this is a very lightly sweetened sandalwood-tobacco scent. I cant really make out the vanilla, but there is a gentle sweetness to the scent so I know it's there. The patchouli is very well blended. I can pick it out, but it doesnt scream at me. I have no experience with ambergris or immortelle so I'm not sure how they are playing into the blend. As it dries I can sense the smokiness coming out the previous reviewers mentioned. It really is gorgeous.

My current top 5 are

1. Morocco

2. Yucca Giant Skipper

3. Lilith Victoria

4. Snake Oil

5. Cake Smash

My top five are:

1. Veil
2. A Moment in Time
3. Lacus Solitudinis
4. The Nutcracker
5. Pele

I'm always looking for suggestions!

1. Nocturne

2. havent tried yet, sorry!

3. TKO

4. again, havent tried

5. Baobhan Sith

2014: Once this dries, it is a soft, sweet incense on me. There are currents and the barest hint of cake in the background that gives the incense a sweet, somewhat foody quality. It's very pretty but stays close to the skin. I have to get my nose right next to my wrist to smell it. Still, very pleasant and I'm sure I'll reach for it often.

edited on 12/15/2014: I am wearing this again after letting it settle for a bit and it is glorious. Soft, sweet incense and the currents and cake have really blossomed in the last 2 months. It is absolutely stunning. I imagine it's going to continue to age beautifully.

On me this smelled liked sweetened patchouli. The vanilla was particularly distinct, it was more of a sugared patch scent than anything. I get no cinnamon from it. It's really lovely when dry and the patchouli isnt WHOA PATCH at all. I think Silkybat fans would like this.

I can definitely see comparisons to Sprinklecake. I think they have the same cake note, but this one is all sugary pink frosting. I think it is strawberry buttercream frosting and sprinklecake. Sprinklecake didnt work on my but this one is OK. Not as good as my beloved Cake Smash, but a great cake scent none the less. I do not get a bubblegum note at all.

2014 version: I am not familiar with the BPAL leaves scent and nothing I smell while wearing this makes me think of leaves. The vanilla musk in this reminds me of Ava or one of the laces, it has a similar feel to them. I do not get any cocoa from it at all. It's a dry, semi-sweet scent. I smell something greenish - maybe thats the leaves? It's pretty and perfect for fall. If you like Ava I think you would like this too.

This is really strong on the patchouli when it's wet. I put it on and thought "meh." Then I went grocery shopping and kept getting whiffs of something lovely only to realize it was me! It settled into a woodsy vanilla with light patchouli that is just gorgeous. The woods are dominant on me but the vanilla sweetens it up. The patchouli is there and recognizable but it's very well blended and just evokes soft, cozy thoughts!

This was a really fresh, bright jasmine while it was wet. Once it dried the jasmines died and took on the dreaded cat pee note Sad, because it was very pretty in the wet stage..

I had such high hopes for this one, I almost bought a blind bottle. I'm glad I didnt. This isnt the tobacco-vanilla I was hoping for. I think I'm mostly smelling orange blossom, which I am not a fan of and had hoped would be undetectable. I'm not getting any of the myrhh and if there's vanilla in there it's unrecognizable. On me its tobacco-orange. Meh.

This smells nutty. Specifically, like peanuts. I can definitely smell the musk, but this weird peanut-y note overpowers everything else. There's something sweet in the background that I can just barely detect. This one is not for me.

Anyone got recs for spicy vanillas that aren't necessarily gourmand? Like, vanilla-tinged "florientals" and the like? I want to dip my toes more into the sweetness of vanilla, but hate smelling like food. ^^;;

 

To give you an example of vanilla blends I dig - I kinda like Euphrosyne and Lyonesse, and really like my bottle of Hod v2. Dolce Stil Nuovo and Three Brides have a nice vanilla flower smell in them that I enjoy as well. I don't like Snake Oil (yeah, blasphemy, I know) because it's got patchouli - that note makes me physically ill, so it's a 100% dealbreaker. Honey doesn't make me ill, but I also don't really like the smell, so O was a no-go when I tried it.

Have you tried Tombstone? That's a very spicy Vanilla IMO. Similar to Snake Oil on me but without the patch.

I dont know any BPALs that are similar, but BBW Brown Sugar Fig is pretty close (I have both). It gives the same warm, sexy vibe.

How did I got this long in life without Inez?! This is the most gorgeous, warm scent I think I have ever tried. It's like snuggling into the softest cashmere blanket on a chilly day.

Wet: Amber and vanilla musk. I cant smell any of the other notes while it's wet. This is my favorite stage. If it stayed like this the entire time I'd buy every available bottle and slather myself daily. So sexy.

Dry: As it dries it begins to morph. For a little bit it becomes a bit powder-y on me. The vanilla note seems to disappear and is instead replaced by the beautiful and spicy carnation. I get gentle wafts of cedar now and again, but can barely smell it (and cedar is a death note for me!). In this stage it smells like Morocco's little sister. A bit of vanilla, heavy on the amber and spiciness of carnation. <3 <3

I think I'm going to need to hunt down another bottle or two!

Current top 5 in no particular order:

1. Snake Oil

2. Lilith Victoria

3. Morocco

4. Mouse's Long and Sad Tale

5. Lyonesse

Honorable mentions: Le Serpent Qui Danse, Scherezade, Cake Smash, Tamora

I am new to BPAL, only a few months in. I have tried about 30 scents and my top 5 are

Snake Oil (have already ordered 2 5mls)

Morocco(same, ordered two I know, I'm crazy)

Alice

O

Bliss

I would love to have some other recs before I get my next imp order together!

Sorry to the previous poster because I feel I'm too new to recommend .

I would try Scherezade. Its similar enough to Morocco and SO that I think you'll like it (I love all 3!). You may also like Mouse's Long and Sad Tale, Lyonesse, Eat Me, The Black Rider or Hollywood Babylon.

Once dry, this smells just like a generic dryer sheet on me. The ones that dont have any particular scent, just fresh clean laundry. It's not unpleasant at all, but not what I expected. I've never smelled dragon's blood before, so I dont know if thats what's giving it the laundry note or not. I usually get on very well sandalwood so I dont think thats the culprit. Overall, pretty and works better for me than Dirty did.

Not sure if I should make a thread or not, but does anyone know of any aquatic vanillas? List all of the ones you are familiar with, if so... I'm really curious!

Lyonesse is the only one I can think of off the top of my head.

I'm new to BPAL, but my top 5 so far are

1. Mouse's Long and Sad Tale

2. Le Serpent Qui Danse

3. Nocturne

4. The Lion

5. Lilac Wood

6. Cottonmouth ---> sorry, coudnt resist adding a 6th!

This smells a lot like Lyonesse to me (and on me), a softer sweeter version. More subtle and less perfumey, but it's defintly in the same scent family.

 

Very pretty scent.

This was my thought too. I actually put one on each wrist to compare. This, to me, is a much softer, less aquatic version of Lyonesse. Its very pretty. Starts off as a soft, pretty amber but the longer I wear it the more the vanilla comes out. Glad I got this in a bottle.

I thought I'd love this since Sweet Pea (even the BBW variety) is a favorite of mine. In the bottle I smell the Sweet Pea mostly, with some cherry blossom. On, its a sugared sweet floral, but as it dries my nose smells something soured. I wonder if its the cream? I've never tried a cream scent before. Eventually it all settles down but then I get a funky base note I dont think this one is for me, will probably end up swapping.

Sharp, medicinal lavender when first applied. After about 10 minutes it calms down into a beautiful floral. I smell violet predominately, but there is something else there I cant identify (not the lilac, gardenia perhaps?). I can hardly detect the lavender at this point, which is a good thing. Its really beautiful once it dries and I'm contemplating a bottle of this.