ladymeag

ARAÑA Sharpie on copier paper, 2012 This is araña. That's spider in Spanish. She's big and has one thousand million babies. Vanilla-infused agarwood, oak bark, and Laotian benzoin. Arana This was the scent from this update I was most excited about. I am not disappointed. In the bottle: Huh, did Antikythera Mechanism's vanilla come along to play? On Me: Wet - yep, much of the sharp vanilla from Antikythera Mechanism. It brings that cologne-y note with it. There's something sweeter lurking, though. As it dries down, the oak comes forward a little bit. Full dry down and the benzoin is clearly detectable separately from the vanilla that was up front. Sweeter, a little sharper. There's definitely a note in there that makes me think of a vanilla ice cream cone but it's not so sweet or foody to be off-putting. I think this one is going to age wonderfully. On my spouse: Far, far sweeter from the beginning, this smells more like a sweet oak vanilla. Still not cloying somehow, though, but not quite as easy to pick out the individual notes. You might want to try this if you like (or really, really wanted to like): Antikythera Mechanism, Feed Me and Fill Me With Pleasure, Hothrun Dath, or if Detestable Putrescence was too sweet.

Blood musk, Egyptian myrrh, Mayan cacao, 7-year aged red patchouli, Siamese benzoin, and tobacco absolute. In the Bottle: blood MUSK and PATCHOULI with some cacao. The musk is so strong, my spouse could smell it across a room when I opened the bottle. On the skin: I'm not picking up much if any of the tobacco absolute but the other notes are all here and playing pretty nicely together. That 7-year-aged red patchouli is peppery, the myrrh is a little woodsy but not over the top, the benzoin is bringing a little sweetness, and the blood musk is both sexy and a little sweet. Normally notes that mention "blood" go terribly sharp (and iron-heavy) or very cherry-bathroom cleaner on me. This one seems to be trying to do both but balancing it in a way that isn't at all unpleasant and is hinting at me that it would age well. Even the appearance of the oil is vampy - it looks very much like blood in a decant or pipette. Sexy but a little sweet, spicy but a little dark, bold but not sharp. Perfect pairing for your clove cigarette and black platform boots.

Snuggly brown musk, spicy carnation, leather balsam, bourbon vanilla, terebinth pine, yew berry, and a touch of clove. I wasn't even planning on trying this one - carnation and pine usually don't play nicely with my skin. When I opened the bottle, though, I could resist trying it. This really does feel like snuggling into warm fur. In the bottle: pine and leather and musk, and maybe a little clove On the skin: I can definitely smell the brown musk and leather first thing. The balsam-y part of "leather balsam" warms up and gets a little woodsy as it dries down. The pine doesn't take over but adds an almost minty freshness that was unexpected. The spicy carnation and clove seem to be playing each other down to a kind of warm, brown spiciness without any sharpness or overtly floral feel. The yew berry and bourbon vanilla bring just a hint of sweetness to keep this scent from being too dry or woodsy, which really gives it that snuggly feeling. I wasn't expecting to like this one and now I'm not sure one bottle will be enough. This smells like the best kind of snuggly warmth for chilly autumn days.

Champaca incense, vetiver, red tea, and oudh. I tried this one against my better judgement - tea and I rarely agree and incense blends have a tendency to go a little over to chemical-room-spray. Sorry to say, folks this one is no exception, though it's very well blended. So well blended in fact that... well, you'll see. In the bottle: I can definitely smell the champaca and oudh's sweetness but I'm not detecting vetiver at all. On my skin: Champaca's here, tea joins in and goes soapy. All at once, I'm hit with a spa-like memory. You know those blue salts they put in seemingly every pedicure tub in the US? Exactly like that. If tea agrees with you more, I'm detecting what could be a lovely tea-and-incense on a breezy afternoon feel behind the soapy-bath-salts overwhelm.

FOREVER IS MERCY BUILT Tamarind, tonka bean, patchouli, golden amber, and white fig. In the bottle, this is all sticky fig and tamarind. Kind of like a chutney, almost. A perfumey chutney, that is. On me, the wet scent has a little patchouli dirtiness and some amber but that seems to get lost as it dries down. It's all sharp fig, bright tamarind, and the tiniest hint of amber. Amber frequently goes powder on me but this one doesn't. It's not for me, but if you like non-foody fruit scents that are very bright, this might be for you. It's also very sweet.

Leather, balsam, ambergris, and bay laurel. Have you ever sniffed Iago and wished it had less vetiver? Then Peter Quint is your man. In the bottle: Leather and ambergris. That's all I'm getting here. Wet: Sharp bay laurel with an impressive throw. The leather comes out almost immediately, which is rare for me with leather scents. As it warms up and dries down, the balsam adds a richness and bay laurel adds a spiciness. Dry: At full dry down, the balsam and leather are front-and-center with the ambergris and bay laurel drifting in and out of the background. Very mellow and together, incredibly balanced, fairly masculine. I bought a bottle of this while it was still wet on my arm at a Will Call - by dry down I was in love. This is amazing.

Enhance your Wise Woman cred with this combination of sage, shrewd oils. Herbs of wisdom, flowers of wit, and the comforting scent of the hearth: hyssop, oak leaf, acorn hull, elder blossom, three sages, and tobacco absolute, with kitchen herbs and raw honey. First things first, my bottle came labeled "Helpful Crone" not "Sympathetic Crone." So, it looks like a name change happened before labels were made. In the bottle: honey, which usually overpowers everything and ... vanilla, is that you? On my skin: Sweet, warm, a little deep. I'm not picking up any of the sage, kitchen herbs, or elder flower at all - which is fine by me, honestly. The honey combines with some of the other things and kind of makes for a patchouli-less Feed Me and Fill Me With Pleasure. It has a bit of the cologne-y bite of tobacco/vanilla blends, which should mellow a little bit with age. The honey isn't the variety that goes powdery but it is a bit syrupy on me, again like FMaFMWP. There seems to be a faint woods behind it all, which I think is the acorn and oak leaf coming through. I'm conflicted - if it were less sweet, it might be just right. If you like honey, this is the thing for you. If you like this try: Feed Me and Fill Me With Pleasure, Araña, O.

Okay, I've tried previous years. They all failed - too waxy, too sweet, too powdery, too olive-oil-ish. 2013? This is my year. In the bottle: Sweet pomegranate and fig On my skin: I don't know what's going on here but this is pomegranate shisha. The fig is warming up to add that molasses scent that shisha has and something about everything else is playing together just right o make it smell exactly like the pomegranate shisha I occasionally buy. If I get my nose right up there and breathe in deeply, I can find the beeswax and olive oil but they're playing really nicely, which is a first for my skin. I think someone ate the sufganiyot, which is fine with me. You might want to give this one a test if you haven't had luck with previous years.

Corrupt indeed. If Wormtongue wore something, this was it. This feels a little like something that the guy who won't stop asking you out at the office might wear. A bit sleazy, but in a good way in this case. In the bottle: Leather and bergamot. Bergamot usually rules my nose though. On my skin: The vetiver and leather took a holiday somewhere else together. Which is sad, I love vetiver and leather. What I do get here is sharp bergamot and bright pepper, and that kind of sandalwood every guy thinks they can pull off the first time they buy cologne. Very sharp, lots of throw, lots of staying power. Even after washing this off, using alcohol pads, washing it off again, and taking a shower, it's still here, sleazing up my living room. If you like this try: Bram Stoker, A Countenance Foreboding Evil, Czernobog

As a woman with two kids, I'm going to add another "this" to the 'please don't scent anything unless requested' pile. I'm very sensitive to scents and when I was pregnant, I was even more sensitive. The laundry soap of the L&D nurses used was over-the-top to me, I could pick out lotion brands, I could tell which ones smoked-and-washed, which ones usually wore perfume when they wore that watch or necklace, and so much more. Asthma and allergies can also be serious issues and the last thing you want during labor is an asthma attack or allergies flaring. I'd avoid personal scent and room scent, unless requested by the patient.

I have floral-triggered migraines and additionally amp roses, jasmine, and carnation. I avoid floral blends heavily and have only found a few with floral notes listed that work well. Additionally, I have a smells-like-florals-and-soap problem with most aquatics. There's a lot on offer for floral haters with BPAL. It looks like you have a lot of recommendations on hand but if you want some leather-heavy, vetiver-heavy, or fairly masculine recommendations, I'm happy to post a few.

I agree with the comparison to October. This is like October's slightly lighter, smokier, woodsier companion. I feel like I'm sitting in a cabin somewhere with a roaring fire and a nice blanket of fallen leaves. Absolutely beautiful. Edited to add: This took three days to completely leave the area I sprayed it in. Given that I run a total of four HePA + UVC airfilters in my 1200 sq ft home at all times (for my asthmatic kid,) this is quite the staying power. I attribute it to the oils landing and clinging somewhere.

I said over in my review for Trauervorspiel und Trauermarsch that incense blends tend to disappoint. I'm not wrong. Add in some lemon peel and, well, it doesn't go so well. In the bottle: woodsy pine-y musky lemon? On my skin: Pine! Lemon! Pine-Lemon! Pine Sol! If Pine-Sol was a toothpaste, this would be it. I'd lament it more but what's even more odd is that my skin, which usually hangs on to everything and amplifies even the lightest of scents, ate this within ten minutes of it drying, which is better than I can say for mopping with Pine Sol.

Ever smelled "white" coffee? That fruity note? It's here. In the bottle: vanilla syrup-y sweetness. On my skin: Definitely a sweet vanilla. It might need to be aged out to gain the depth I typically like from a vanilla scent. The coffee bean note is really evident if you've smelled beans before they go in the roaster or some really well-brewed white coffee - it's a kind of fruity nuttiness that's hard to pin-point but it's definitely here. The spice and patchouli seem to be on vacation in my case, so I'm not getting any here, perhaps they'll show up with aging. It's a little sweet for my tastes now, but so is first-year Antikythera Mechanism or anything else with a vanilla note. Off to the back of the box and we'll see you again in a year. I hope you keep that coffee note.

Leather, clove, and pepper and I are old friends. Blood musk and I usually keep our distance, however. I'm glad I didn't! In the bottle: Leather! and clove! and sweet, sweet, sweet blood musk. Uh-oh. On my skin: Starts out very sweet with that blood-musk-cherry but then very quickly goes a little woody and a little spicy. It's not as spicy as say, Sin or Spanked or Hatta, but you can kind of tell it's in the same spice family. Definitely musky and my spouse described it as smelling like a really high-end aftershave. This also seems to have a woodsy incense vibe, kind of like I get off of Dracul. Does Beth make gallons? If you like this try: Old Demons of the First Class, Hellfire, Dracul

You could try RPG's Gnome (fizzy ginger to my nose) and perhaps Lawful or Paladin to layer it with. It would allow you to control how much of each you had, as well.

I try to only recommend GC to new folks seeking recommendations and might mention past LE if they mention something in specific that sounds perfect but I mention it's past-LE and might require hunting down. I figure finding a few good GC scents is the gateway to seeking out LE updates.

I got a decant of this from someone on the forum a few years ago. I'd been putting off buying a bottle (even though it was a lovely whiskey-barrel scent) because it's so close to a single note that I was worried I'd never wear it. However, my lab-fresh bottle arrived this week and... In the bottle - Bananas?! Really? Did I get the wrong scent? Oh, other reviews say fresh bottles smell like bananas. Interesting. On the Skin - Woodsy, slightly boozy banana bread. I'm allergic to bananas, so the smell is making me nervous and worried about itching. I certainly hope this banana business ages out because the decant I have is gorgeous and that's what I was aiming for.

If you can pumpkin, Pumpkin Latte (2010, I believe) was a pretty good coffee scent. It was too sweet for me, so was swapped away in 2011 but most of the pumpkin scents are too sweet for me. The Ta-Ta is great if you don't amp florals (which I do) and like leather (which I do.) It smelled great on my spouse, on me it was all carnation all the time and spiked a migraine. Miskatonic University is very good, if a little sweet. I second the request for pie, chocolate, pastry, cake, milk, and so forth -free coffee scents! I want black coffee in a leather chair reading a book. Or black coffee on crunchy-leaved fall day. Though, to other people I probably already always smell like coffee, I drink enough of the stuff.

The patchouli in this reminds me very much of Banshee Beat. Unfortunately for me, without the creamy vanilla of Banshee Beat, this isn't balanced enough for my patchouli-amping skin. In the bottle: Sweet patchouli On the skin: A dirty, sexy, rooty patchouli with a little sweetness. Honey notes usually go very powdery on me and this one somehow doesn't but it doesn't quite sweeten up the patchouli enough for my liking. This would be wonderful on someone that either didn't amp patchouli or did amp the other notes. Banshee Beat and patchouli lovers, rejoice - and buy back up bottles. EDITED TO ADD: Holy smokes, y'all. The next day and two showers later? I'm still wearing this. I'm not a slathering kind of person (unless it's Antikythera Mechanism ) and only tested this with a single, careful touch of a clean glass wand. Staying power, this has it.

In the bottle - Coconut and something... green. Can't quite put my nose on it but it's definitely green. On the skin - Warm coconut vanilla creme. It's definitely creamy. The throw on this seems to largely be coconut but when you get close-in you can smell the warm musk and amber. The patchouli isn't here at all, which means it should age into wonderfulness and show up in about year, in my general BPAL experience. I was expecting more green-peppery-spice with the 'green cardamom pod' but it's not here. Perhaps it will age in? I'm very happy with it as it stands, though, a warm coconut creamy vanilla-amber scent, less sweet than Elegba. On my spouse - Warm coconut caramels. No, really that's it. Or as he described it, slightly toasted classic Samoas cookie (what is now known as a Caramel deLite.) AS ABOVE and SO BELOW layered together: Warm, creamy, leather with a little bit of coconut sweetness and almond warmth. The complexities of As Above really add to So Below's warmth making for a complex and wonderful perfume - I highly recommend layering them. If you like this try: Elegba, Perversion

In the bottle - Soapy leather. Not really blown away with hope here - the first Haute Macabre scent was all cherry chapstick on me and I'm getting a whiff of that, too, so I'm kind of thinking that this will be a soapy-floral-fail. On the skin - Slightly jasmine leather. This may be breaking my no-florals rule, it's not sharp and doesn't seem to be causing a headache. The almond is warming up a bit and losing the cherry chapstick feel it had in the bottle. Patchouli completely absent here and never seems to make an appearance. The vanilla and almond are playing very nicely together, not cloying, not foody, not plastic. At full dry-down this has some serious sillage and amazing staying power, I was still wearing it after taking a shower. On my spouse - Smoky, sweet, hints of sasparilla. Oak bark with vanilla and almond are adding up to a woodsy root beer barrel. AS ABOVE and SO BELOW layered together: Warm, creamy, leather with a little bit of coconut sweetness and almond warmth. The jasmine seems to get buried in with the mingled scents but it makes for a very well-rounded very complex perfume. If you like this, you might like: Liz (though Liz is sharper all around)

Yep, oakmoss. This is the scent that is responsible for the green depth in some of my favorite green-forest-y scents and also responsible occasionally for their soapy scent deaths. In the bottle - I don't know how to describe this but green and fuzzy. It's like ... if green velvet was a scent. On my skin - First whiff is soapy. This is common for me with unaged oakmoss scents. Underneath that soapiness, I can get a hint of the deep woodsy goodness that it might become in a year or more. I tend to like this better as a basenote (but oh do I like it as a basenote,) so I'm going to hang on to a decant's worth but don't feel the need to hoard it as I do with other single notes.

Sin (note: amber, sandalwood, black patchouli and cinnamon) is one of my favorite GC blends. It's sexy, it's warm - this is no exception. In the bottle: The warm cinnamon of Sin with a nice creamy pumpkin. On the skin: This is deep, creamy, and warm. There seems to be some vanilla in here to balance the pumpkin and make it this creamy. All of the elements of Sin are definitely here - deep sandalwood, warm amber, sexy and slightly peppery patchouli, and bright cinnamon. If you like Sin and wanted it a little creamier or with a balancing sweetness, you will probably like this one. Given that Sin ages gloriously, I expect this one only to get better as time goes on.

Let me start by saying that Snake Oil is I want to love but it won't let me - on my skin it's all honeyed sugar syrupy sweetness. Even aged, Snake Oil doesn't work out for me and I have some old stuff around here (my spouse wears Snake Oil quite well.) This? This works. In the bottle: vanilla buttery pumpkin On the skin: This warms up and has a bit of spice to it that fades pretty quickly into a mellow, creamy scent. There's a nice warm-pumpkin-pie-filling (the way it smells _before_ you cook it) smell here and the pumpkin fades over time. This has a foody edge without making me think "Gee, I smell like a bakery." A little like someone over-vanilla'd the perfect pumpkin pie filling. Definitely a winner and I expect it to age very well.