clover

BLACK ANNIS Vast talons, foul with human flesh, there grewIn place of hands, and features livid blue Glar'd in her visage; while the obscene waist Warm skins of human victims close embraced. The blue faced hag of the British Hills. She lives in the Dane Hills, Leicestershire, in a cave called Black Annis' Bower Close, which she dug out of rock with her own iron-strong claws. Dozens of huge cats prowl the Bower with her, and it is guarded by a great pollarded oak in which she hides so that she may catch lambs and small children to eat. She carries her victims back to her cave, where she flays them alive before devouring them. She drapes their skins on her guardian oak to dry. Her skirt is fashioned from the skins of her prey, and her bed is a high-piled bed of their bones. Black Annis' perfume is a mixture of damp cave lichen and oak leaf with a hint of vetiver, civet and anise. Alright, I admit...I'm a little disturbed by how very me this scent is. I mean, she's a hag! And a child devouring hag, at that. But really...anise, vetiver, moss and oak leaf? Those are a few of my favorite things. Upon first application: Not what I was expecting! Very smoky, ashy...vaguely reminiscent of Djinn. Downright ember-y. After a few minutes: And the anise comes out to play! I love it when that happens. A few minutes after that: It's all licoricey, with a very earthy background. I can only just detect the slightest bit of civet, and really it's just sweetening up the anise a little. Conclusion: It's fantastic. And what it really reminds me of is trick or treating on a dark Halloween night...candy and fallen leaves and that earthy Autumn smell. Definitely will need a big bottle.

TINTAGEL According to legend, the birthplace of King Arthur. The scent of a castle's great hall in the midst of joyous feasting. Spicy mulled wine flowing through the musky heat, warm leather and bright clash of armor, the damp branches of Cornish hawthorn, blackthorn, juniper, English elm and bayberry, and the magical tingle of dragon's blood resin. Disclaimer: I have been looking forward to this for ages...I am a King Arthur freak. I collect books on Arhturian legend. My favorite book is Le Morte d'Arthur. There was NO WAY I wasn't going to like this....(Thanks to the super-cool minilux for sending it to me!) First impression: Wow, she's a swarthy one! Swarthy and sweet though...I can definitely sense the dragon's blood resin. After a few minutes: I'm afraid the cinnamon is taking over. It's really spicy. A little while after that: Aha! This is downright lovely. Comforting even. The heat has disappeared, and (what I assume are) the hawthorn, blackthorn, elm and bayberry are all peeking out. Drydown: I'm in love. All of the notes are balanced perfectly. Like I said before, it's comforting...sweet and smooth and just a little bit sexy. I have to go to Tintagel....

THE PASSIONATE SHEPHERD TO HIS LOVE Christopher Marlowe Come live with me and be my love, And we will all the pleasures prove, That valleys, groves, hills and fields, Woods or steepy mountains yields. And we will sit upon the rocks, Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks By shallow rivers, to whose falls Melodious birds sing madrigals. And I will make thee beds of roses, And a thousand fragrant posies, A cap of flowers and a kirtle Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle; A gown made of the finest wool, Which from our pretty lambs we pull; Fair-lined slippers for the cold, With buckles of the purest gold; A belt of straw and ivy buds, With coral clasps and amber studs; And if these pleasures may thee move, Come live with me and be my love. The shepherd swains shall dance and sing For thy delight each May morning; If these delights thy mind may move, Then live with me and be my love. Heather, clover, Irish moss, English ivy, tea rose, and carnation. So often I start reviews with "this is not how I was expecting this to smell", but in the case of The Passionate Shepherd to His Love, it smells *exactly* as I was expecting (and hoping for) it to smell like. Sniffing from the bottle the first thing that hits me is green grass - the scent of standing in a field. It must be the clover, it smells exactly like standing in a clover field. I almost feel like my allergies are going to start acting up. I always think of heather as smelling ever-so-slightly-like-curry on me, in a floral way. And I like it, but only in very small doses or it can be overwhelming. This is staying pretty true on me - after a bit I can start to sense a very light rose if I think about it hard enough, but not enough rose for the scent to go soapy. Overwhelmingly it's the scent of nature and spring - green and pastoral with just a hint of floral to balance it out. Just perfect.

THE PERFUMED GARDEN Under her neck my right hand Has served her for a cushion, And to draw her to me I have sent out my left hand, Which bore her up as a bed. The Perfumed Garden for the Soul's Recreation. This scent is based on a venerable Tunisian perfume that was used to excite the senses, inspire sensuality and inflame passion. Myrrh and Moroccan jasmine with apple peel, Indian sandalwood, myrtle, quince, citron, and thyme poured over soft musk. Sniffing from the bottle: The apple peel jumps out at me right away...which just about thrills me right out of my seat. Upon application: Sweet tart fruits (mostly apple!) with just the slightest hint of jasmine. Juicy and lovely. After a few minutes: The jasmine starts to peek out more, as does the myrhh. Usually I'm not a fan of myrhh, but this myrhh is SO soft and sweet and gentle that it's really just a nice complement to the fruity jasmine. It just smooths it out. A few minutes after that: Interestingly the jasmine just about disappears. I'm used to jasmine being an overpowering note, but it's not in this blend. I would say that the two dominant notes (on me) are apple and myrhh....although I can tell that they're wrapped up in a soft musk hug. Conclusion: Sweet and soft like a cloud. Surprisingly innocent. Romantic and lovely.

I'm wondering if there are any scents that strike you guys as apple-ly?? I did a search for apple and came up with Delirium (which I've tried and, while it's lovely, didn't have an apple scent on me) or Virgo & Libra (I'm waiting for some Virgo to arrive...). Everything else that popped up included apple blossom, which I'm not looking for. However, since most of the Celestials & Tarot & Voodoo blends don't have ingredients listed, I'm wondering if any of those might work?? Any help is appreciated!

MISTLETOE The plant of peace in Norse tradition. If enemies met in the forest and came upon a sprig, they laid down their arms and observed a truce until the next sunrise. Yikes, am I the first to review Mistletoe? I'll keep it simple then... Mistletoe: I love you. You are the perfect spicy green scent. A little bit of sweetness for the berries, with a little bit of sharpness for the poison. I'm wearing Mistletoe today (Yule and all) and I have to admit the first minute or two were a little scary. I was afraid the sharpness was a little funky. But it disappears right away and turns into a lovely blend sharp and sweet. It's the PERFECT holiday scent. And it stays pretty true from first application on...which is why this review is so short.

The Hanging Gardens The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Great Wonders of the World, were believed to be created by Nebuchadnezzar, possibly to honor the Assyrian princess Semiramis, or, more likely, to cheer up Nebuchadnezzar’s unhappy, homesick wife, Amyitis. If the latter is to be believed, it is speculated that Amyitis found the dry, arid landscape of Mesopotamia, in contrast to the lush greenery of her homeland, to be staggeringly depressing and bleak. To bolster her spirits, the king recreated a fascimile of her mountanous, green home with this fantastic terraced wonder filled with sparkling waterfalls, strange beasts, and exotic fruits, trees and flowers. It consists of vaulted terraces raised one above another, and resting upon cube-shaped pillars. These are hollow and filled with earth to allow trees of the largest size to be planted. The pillars, vaults, and terraces are constructed of baked brick and asphalt. The Garden is quadrangular, and each side is four plethra long. It consists of arched vaults which are located on checkered cube-like foundations.. The ascent of the uppermost terrace-roofs is made by a stairway... The Hanging Garden has plants cultivated above ground level, and the roots of the trees are embedded in an upper terrace rather than in the earth. The whole mass is supported on stone columns... Streams of water emerging from elevated sources flow down sloping channels... These waters irrigate the whole garden saturating the roots of plants and keeping the whole area moist. Hence the grass is permanently green and the leaves of trees grow firmly attached to supple branches... This is a work of art of royal luxury and its most striking feature is that the labor of cultivation is suspended above the heads of the spectators. This perfume is an interpretation of the Hanging Gardens by night, based on further accounts of its fruit and flora: date palm, ebony, fir, pomegranate, plum, two pears, quince, fig, and grapevine with plumeria, three gardenias and dry rose. This perfume is just an explosion of wonderful scents...sweet and floral, lush and tropical, dry and juicy at the same time. The pears are what jump out at me first. Pears and a bouquet of florals. After a few minutes, it sweetens up a bit....a few more fruits...and then the woods come out. Which is really nice, because they give the perfume a nice solid base, keeping it from being too sweet and too floral. Very evocative, I think this would be a wonderful scent on a hot summer night. Lovely and colorful.

A phenomenal Caribbean love oil blend. Used as an anointing oil in love rituals and worn as perfume. Well, I haven't used this in a love ritual....but I have worn it as a perfume, and thus this review is based on that. Sniffing from bottle: Cherry? Almond? Sometimes I can't tell the difference. Upon appliation: Although there's a part of me that knows that it's probably almond - the impression I'm getting is definitely cherry. Cherries and freshly, freshly squeezed oranges. In fact - if I were doing a blind sniff test - I would've thought that this was Decadence. It's sweetly fruity, but not in a tropical way. Actually, it's like cherry, oranges and sugar cane. Very nice. After a few minutes: There's a slight dustiness in the dry down. Could be my skin, things tend to turn dusty on me. Also could be some mysterious, magickal herbs that I wouldn't recognize the scent of if my life depended on it. Conclusion: I definitely smell lickable! Very sweet and pleasant. At this point it seems pretty obvious that if I want to wear this as a perfume that frequent re-application will be necessary...but the lovely scent wafting off of me could make that well worth it!

CERBERUS Proceeds go to the Animal Assistance League of Orange County. Cerberus, the Three-Headed watchdog that guards the gate to Hades. Loyal, dutiful and ferocious to its master's enemies, but possessed of a distracting fondness for honey cakes and the song of the lyre. A deep, rumbling scent, warm, soft and as cozy as a dog by a hearthfire, but with a fierce and feral soul: deep chocolate, deeper musks, with a dash of fig, bittersweet walnut, and the wild essences of juniper berry, cubeb and rum. Upon first application: Cerberus smells like a chocolate covered cherry. It really does - or one of those candies whose name I can't think of, that are cherry cream and walnuts and covered with chocolate. This completely takes me by surprise, because, despite the chocolate in the description, I wasn't expecting a sweet scent. I'm not sure why I'm picking up cherry, unless walnut oil, like almond oil, has a sweet scent. After a few minutes: The scent completely morphs. It slowly gets less sweet, grows stronger and slightly bitter - but bitter in a good way. I assume that's the combination of juniper berry, cubeb and fig. (See how I just throw cubeb in, like I know what it smells like? Of course I don't know what it smells like. The extent of my knowledge of cubeb is that you can make cigarettes out of it - so I assumed it was tobacco-like. Well, I looked it up and it turns out it's a pepper berry. A-ha!) A few minutes after that: Mostly fig, but a round, full, earthy fig rolled in sugar and spices. It's quite a transformation, but it's really nice.

Fiery Command First impressions: Strong florals - my first guess is gardenia & maybe some jasmine. Upon application: Gardenia & something slightly sweet, but I can't for the life of me figure out what it is. It's a strong floral with something slightly sweet and pretty underneath. After a few minutes: I wore this today to help me take command of my own emotions, and it seems to be helping. It's very grounding (not at all what I was expecting from something called Fiery Command) and doesn't go at all bitter, unlike 95% of florals on me. I want to rub my wrist...kind of like my kitty with catnip. Kind of addictive. I like this very much, indeed.

Hail unto thee who art Khephra in Thy hiding, even unto Thee who art Khephra in Thy silence, who travellest over the heavens in Thy bark at the Midnight Hour of the Sun. Tahuti standeth in His splendour at the prow, and Ra-Hoor abideth at the helm. Hail unto Thee from the Abodes of Evening. Upon first application: Very smooth, and calming. Slightly sweet. And vaguely herby. For some reason I'm thinking it smells like mallow - although that's strange becuase I'm not sure if I've ever smelled mallow before. Huh. Nevertheless, mallow is the impressions I get. An maybe chamomile?? After a few minutes: Stays pretty true...herby sweet with a background of resiny incense. And just the slightest floral...although I can't tell what floral it is. Conclusion: This is very calming, and generally speaking I don't get along with calm scents. They make me nervous! But it works perfectly in the set, as the Midnight Sun.

LaFlamme An enticing love blend, used to force your lover to think only of you. Possesses a bewitching, haunting scent. Use as a perfume and in spellwork. I am told that this Twilight oil is to be used as a perfume, as well as as a magickal oil. Sniffing from the bottle: Orange, but a really red orange. Maybe a hint of rose. Maybe a touch of clove. Perhaps a smidge of cinnamon. Upon application: The orange sticks around, but is very soon overwhelmed by bold, sweet wonderful red musk. Hot damn! I loooove red musk. After a few minutes: Womanly in the extreme. Red, red, red. Conclusion: I've not tested this in public yet, but I can only imagine that with this much sexy musk floating around you, just about anything is possible.

A FAREWELL TO FALSE LOVE Sir Walter Raleigh Farewell, false love, the oracle of lies, A mortal foe and enemy to rest, An envious boy, from whom all cares arise, A bastard vile, a beast with rage possessed, A way of error, a temple full of treason, In all effects contrary unto reason. A poisoned serpent covered all with flowers, Mother of sighs, and murderer of repose, A sea of sorrows whence are drawn such showers As moisture lend to every grief that grows; A school of guile, a net of deep deceit, A gilded hook that holds a poisoned bait. A fortress foiled, which reason did defend, A siren song, a fever of the mind, A maze wherein affection finds no end, A raging cloud that runs before the wind, A substance like the shadow of the sun, A goal of grief for which the wisest run. A quenchless fire, a nurse of trembling fear, A path that leads to peril and mishap, A true retreat of sorrow and despair, An idle boy that sleeps in pleasure's lap, A deep mistrust of that which certain seems, A hope of that which reason doubtful deems. Sith then thy trains my younger years betrayed, And for my faith ingratitude I find; And sith repentance hath my wrongs bewrayed, Whose course was ever contrary to kind: False love, desire, and beauty frail, adieu. Dead is the root whence all these fancies grew. Pale lavender, sweet violet, balsam of Peru, and paperwhite narcissus. Sniffing from the bottle: it's hard for any note to stand up to lavender, and when I sniff this from the bottle, that's pretty much all I smell. On first application, it's pure lavender, as well - though a very wearable lavender, not medicinal at all. Slowly I start to sense a gentle sweetness start to glow through, and I assume it's the balsam of peru. Which, to be honest, I knew was sweet, but I didn't really think was going to be this sweet. Of course, the description says "sweet violet" as well, so although I'm not really getting Violet out of the scent, perhaps that's lending to the sweetness. It's interesting...after half an hour or so when I put my nose to my wrist I still smell strong lavender, but the scent cloud floating around me is almost like purple candy. Paperwhite is not one of my favorite florals, and so I'm very pleased that it doesn't seem to make much of an appearance on me. I think this is a very adult, smoothing, elegant scent, but not particularly mournful. And now that I'm concluding the review, I'm just noticing that I'm starting to get whiffs of violet. It's an elegant purple, this scent. Maybe not for everyday, but really lovely.

BINAH The Womb, Shabbathai, the Uppermost Feminine in the Godhead, Supernal Mother, Divine Sorrow, Supernal Shekhinah, and the source of the 50 Gates of Understanding. Upon first application: I'm not quite sure how to describe it. Slightly floral, slightly sweet...but not sweet in a happy, cheery sweet kind of way, a very serious, earthy sweet. After a few minutes: Ah, I think it's incensy sweet. Incense and wood, and a slight hint of floral. A few minutes after that: Bam! Floral. Soapy florals, which generally indicates either roses or lilies. Unfortunately for me, that means headache. Conclusion: Sometimes I am loathe to review floral scents, as my chemistry is so very, very opposed to them! But I would describe Binah as an earthy/incensy floral, that reminds me for some reason of being in a church.

LIBER RESH VEL HELIOS: RA Hail unto Thee who art Ra in Thy rising, even unto Thee who art Ra in Thy strength, who travellest over the Heavens in Thy bark at the Uprising of the Sun.Tahuti standeth in His splendour at the prow, and Ra-Hoor abideth at the helm. Hail unto Thee from the Abodes of Night! Sniffing from the bottle: Hmm, it reminds me of Red Moon! On first application: Yes, it's definitely like Red Moon, except without the spiciness. It's a very smooth red/orange floral...maybe heliotrope? I guess that would make sense. After a few minutes: All of these LRvH blends seem to have a smooth, sweet base. I think maybe it's frankincense? Some sort of resin, anyway... A few minutes after that: It has mellowed and blended very nicely. And strangely, it seems like there's a tiny little bit of some warm spice. Conclusion: It's really kind of bizarre (and I mean that in the best way!)...it seems like it's incredibly smooth and sweet, but kind of burning hot at the same time! Really great.

THE PRESENCE OF LOVE Samuel Taylor Coleridge And in Life's noisiest hour, There whispers still the ceaseless Love of Thee, The heart's Self-solace and soliloquy. ______________________ You mould my Hopes, you fashion me within; And to the leading Love-throb in the Heart Thro' all my Being, thro' my pulses beat; You lie in all my many Thoughts, like Light, Like the fair light of Dawn, or summer Eve On rippling Stream, or cloud-reflecting Lake. And looking to the Heaven, that bends above you, How oft ! I bless the Lot, that made me love you. White musk, rose-swirled amber, pink grapefruit, and jasmine. This is the Love Poem I was most looking forward to, and it does not disappoint. Sniffing from the bottle I get pure grapefruit and jasmine. I know there are a lot of jasmine haters out there, but I have to say I don't get it. To me it's just the prettiest floral scent in all of perfumery. And there's a lot of it in The Presence of Love. Jasmine & piquant pink grapefruit. After a while, the citrus fades, and I start to get a whiff of rose. After a while I start to sniff some musk, but it's not the white musk I'm generally familiar with (from say, Fae or Zephyr) - it's more like the musk in scents like 51. This is a *very* traditional floral perfume, perfect for the traditional romantic poem it is supposed to represent. Luckily I'm a fan of traditional floral perfumes, so I like this very much.

BPAL for Beginners: Brand new to BPAL and don't know where to start: BPAL scents that remind us of favorite commercial perfumes The Forum Top Ten list is a good resource (most recently compiled November 2008). Scents for men/gender neutral scents:Refer to this thread in the FAQ. Advanced BPAL: Everything you've always wanted to know about layering GC Scents that are reminiscent of your favorite Limited Editions GC Scent Staples for Newbies Similarities Between General Catalog Scents BPAL-Lush Similarities Translating TALs to BPAL scents (for when you love the smell of a TAL oil but want to wear perfume without ritual) Scents to Wear for a Job Interview Bridal BPAL - scents for your wedding Fond of particular notes? Look here to find recommendations for: Almond (includes Amaretto) Amber Egyptian amber Anise, Licorice and related scents Apple Bakery - baked goods scents Banana Bay Rum Berries Raspberry Carnations Chai Chocolate Cinnamon Citrus, featuring Orange (see Lemon, Lime, Tangerine, Grapefruit threads as well) Lemon Lime Civet Clove and Clove Cigarettes Coconut Coffee Dirt, Earth, Soil Dragon's Blood Evergreen notes, including Pine Fig Ginger Grapes Grass and Hay Honey Honeysuckle Incense and Resins Iris Ivy Jasmine Lavender Leather Lilac Lotus Magnolia Milk and cream Mimosa Mint Moonflower Musk - general discussion, see these separate threads for Red and White/light musks: Animalistic Musks Red Musk White Musk and lighter musks Nag Champa Nuts Orange Blossom Patchouli Peach, Apricot and Nectarine Plum Pumpkin Rose Sandalwood Smoke and Fire Spicy Scents Tea Tobacco Tuberose Vanilla Vetiver Violet Ylang-ylang **If a note doesn't appear on this list, it doesn't necessarily mean that there isn't a thread about it in Recommendations. Please do a search before starting a new thread and if you happen to see that a popular, widely discussed note hasn't been added here, feel free to PM the current Recs mod, ivyandpeony, to let her know. And of course you can PM her for search help, with suggestions and what have you. BPAL by the season: Spring:Springtime Scents Summer: Scents to beat the heat, and Late Summer into Fall Fall: Autumnal Scents Winter: Here, including the perfect winter forest, Scents for a cold, crisp night & Holiday scents Looking for a category, a mood, help with a problem? Look here to find recommendations: Aquatic Bakery Scents [ Bonfires, campfires, burning leaves Calming, Relaxing, Comforting Clean Dark, Scary, Ghostly, Foreboding... Gourmand & Foody Green scents, including green florals and green grass Light, Gentle, Subtle, low throw Longest-lasting BPALs Metallic Old books, paper & libraries Sexy Stimulating - for waking up and staying awake Sweet Good for Bedtime, or Problems with Sleep Sweet BPAL scents, including candylike scents] Tropical Woodsy BPAL to fit the weather! Rain (Edited to remove broken links, etc. by ivyandpeony 8/10/06) (New links added 1/24/08 by ivyandpeony) (Broken link fixed by LiberAmoris 11/28/17)

I'm wearing Eleggua today on my skin and in a scent locket, in order to do a proper review. Ouf of the bottle: Yummy mint syrup! With just a hint of something sweet. Smells almost boozy. I think I mentioned briefly that when I first opened this up it reminded me of Spooky, and it still does. Upon application: Sharp mint, but also an undercurrent of something golden. It's interesting, it's the same impression I get from Block Buster - it has the golden feel of honey, but doesn't smell like honey at all. I can't for the life of me figure out what it is. After a few minutes: On my skin this is turning into a mint cookie, kind of dusty...while in the scent locket it stays syrupy. A few minutes after that: The mint has really faded on my skin, and I'm left with a warm slightly sweet and slightly dusty scent. Very light. The oil in the locket is still sweet, delightful mint!! This is a wonderful winter scent!

To me the dominant note in Marc Jacobs is gardenia...I think the closest thing to it in the BPAL catalog is The Ecstasy of St. Theresa.

I find Midnight on the Midway to be extremely Chinatown-esque.

I agree with i&p that the violet notes in Nocturne and Morgause aren't necessarily that strong. My favorite violets in the gc are Le Serpent Qui Danse (the violet surprisingly blasts the gardenia right out of the picture in my opinion), Queen Gertrude (rich and regal) and Ephemera (wispy and gentle).

... Strength, passion, and the cleansing fire of joy: olive blossom, white nectarine, vibrant blood orange, honey absolute, lemongrass, elemi, sensual patchouli, and the quiet purity of gardenia. I didn't really expect to like this scent, but an imp was sent to me by a very kind forumite and I'm happily surprised that I love it! I'm not a huge patchouli fan, and I really don't like lemongrass, so I was wary. But when I put this on, I swear that - on me - the citrus is coming off as extremely grapefruity. At first I get huge whiffs of grapefruit with just a little bit of patchouli providing a dark background. But almost immediately the patchouli disappears on me, and the glorious gardenia (one of my favorite florals) sweetens and smooths this scent right out. On me, this smells like a very grapefruity/gardenia blend with just a hint of something herbal. It's clean, but not in a soapy way - in a way that makes me think this is the kind of perfume I want to reach for when I want to freshen up a bit. A big hit for me! I'm going to be tempted to grab a bottle before the Yules come down.

This scent is sending me on a trip down memory lane - it's the closest thing to the old single note vanilla bean that I've worn in a long time. I'm not sure which components are doing it, but this scent has the same lush, rich, roundness in it's vanilla that the vanilla bean s.n. had - it's not a feeling I get from vanillas in perfumes very often. This scent is true love - lush, golden vanilla with a tiny bit of drying sandalwood when one inhales very deeply. Really good stuff!

Peach is one of the few fruits I can abide in perfumes, and I love it in this scent. The peach in La Vague is not sweet or playful, a la Fae or Imp...but bold, regal and elegant - in the manner of the Marquise de Merteuil, a scent I love and adore. La Vague reminds me a lot of MdM, in fact - except it's slightly more accessible, if that makes sense. If you like Marquise de Mertueil, but it seems too haughty for you, give La Vague a try. Anyway, it's one of Beth's beautifully balanced creations - the florals are not TOO floral, the fruit isn't too sweet, and I think the iris is acting as a sort of light, woody component to ground the whole scent. A truly lovely, classical perfume!

Sniffing from the bottle: Sweet and crisp with a light background of soft flowers. I love asian pears, and I definitely get that sweet green juicy crispness from this scent. Upon application: It does that strange foody/curry thing that certain flowers do on me sometimes. I can never quite figure out what notes it is that do that. After a few minutes: Unfortunately this starts to go a bit funky on me. I'm not sure why, but I'm starting to smell like tropical fruit life savers. Conclusion: This had great potential at first sniff, but sadly my skin chemistry did this one in. Not for me.