fufu_berry

Has anyone had a bad reaction to Ulalume?

 

Starry white lilies lend an eerie brightness to the deep black wooded scents of cypress and oak, layered with a touch of crushed dried leaves and the faintest aquatic note.

 

I actually have a pretty extensive laundry list of allergies/asthma when it comes to trees etc., but it didn't occur to me that they might extend to perfumery! A whiff of this one closes my throat up pretty quick. And I have no idea which note's the culprit. Anyone else have a guess?

Have you tried blends with lilies before? I know that for me, even a whiff of a lily will make me break out in hives and close my throat up (I literally have to hold my breath in the flower section of grocery stores).

Decant/wet: Fruit snacks? Really fruity and sweet, nothing bloody or sinister to be found.

Drydown: A little bit of clean wood coming through, some of the cloying fruitiness has settled down.

Hour later: A little bit of musk and clean woods.

Not sure how I feel about this - it was extremely sweet and clean on me, which isn't really what I was hoping for, but I started to kind of like it after awhile.

This smells awesome on me - it doesn't really change much from wet to dry. The honey, champaca, and woodsy incense are most prominent on me; red musk seems to play more of a supporting role, making the scent more "rounded," if that makes any sense. It has great staying power - been on for eight hours so far and still going strong, but not too overpowering. I can't compare it to Snake Oil since I haven't tried that (I know that's tantamount to BPAL blasphemy, but vanilla and I are mortal enemies), but it's not too sweet or too dry. Trying to decide if I need a bottle!

I LOVE ginger, so I was dying to try this. Unfortunately, I get zero ginger - on me, this is a not very appealing combination of potpourri spices, frosting, and plastic. Very very sweet and foody, almost to the point of making my teeth ache. After about 15 min the sweetness dies down a little, but then all I get is plastic. Definitely going to have to find a new home. :/

In the imp: Soap? Oh dear...

On wet: More soap, but I got a little on my fingertips when I opened the imp, and they smell like tea and honey, so holding out hope.

Drydown: There we go...still a little sharp and green for my taste, but the sinus-clearing effect I loved from Velvet Cthulhu is here at least. I'm not totally in love with Nostrum Remedium, but seeing as how I'm unlikely to find more Velvet Cthulhu, I think I'll keep it around.

I got a frimp decant of unknown vintage with a forum purchase from the lovely alterosen. At first, I smelled some florals that were kind of green and spicy - not soapy and high-pitched like most florals go on me. I also smelled a strange chemically sort of scent - after a couple minutes, it smoothed out into candle wax. I got just a touch of incense. Overall, I really liked this scent -- I don't usually go for anything remotely floral, but it really does evoke a DDLM altar scent, which is what I was hoping to get out of it. I have a decant of 2012 on the way, so I'm curious to see how this older one will compare.

This was so horrible in the decant and on wet that I almost scrubbed it off - it smelled like the moldy water left over after you had to throw out old carnations. Just old and decaying and musty and ugh. But I left it on hoping some of the other notes would pull through, and they did! After about 10 min the moldy smell went away, and the patchouli came through. It was mostly patchouli until after about five hours, when a little bit of black pepper and cardamom peeked through. It was mostly nice, although I wish I had gotten more clove and tea and less carnation. Just need to plug my nose for 10 min after applying I guess!

I'm not too much an expert on vetiver for the vetiver-averse since I love it, but to me, the vetiver in Cohen v. California and Velvet Cthulhu is very soft. Both of those have some very "fresh" notes (apple blossom in Cohen, wasabi in Velvet Cthulhu) and tea that I think helps offset the smokiness that vetiver can have.

Hmm...I really want to love this because marigolds are my favorite flowers and Dia de los Muertos is a really special holiday to me. I get some sense of the pepperiness of marigolds, but also a lot of sharp soap smell, which seems to always happen with floral scents on me. :/ Maybe layering this with something will be helpful? I want to make it work, but just not sure this is going to be for me.

ETA: Layering Mad Meg over it seems to have toned down the soapiness tremendously (and brought out the sage note in MM, which is awesome), so probably going to hang on to this for now and try more layering experiments.

Ooh, great idea, getting some of the "mechanic" aspect in there. I don't have any of the Steamworks scents yet, although I have been eying No. 93 Engine. I'll have to see if I can rectify this problem before Halloween...

I think something with chrome or oil would be appropriate for Gosling's character in Drive. The Nameless City Drive-In Theater jumps out at me, as do Steam.Goth and No. 93 Engine. Actually, any of the Steamworks blends would probably work well.

Jessica Rabbit screams Vixen to me -- "The innocence [she's not bad...] of orange blossom tainted by the beguiling scents of ginger and patchouli. [she's just drawn that way!]"

One of the costume ideas I'm considering is Ryan Gosling's character (the Driver) from Drive...seems like Appalling Abattoir might be appropriate, especially given that elevator scene. Anything else I should consider?

Halloween costume: Jessica Rabbit. Any ideas on scents, people?

This is a very light and pleasant scent on me - gingery cider with just a hint of booze. It smelled really boozy in the imp, but mellowed out nicely once I put it on. It's a little bit fruity and sweet, but not so much that it goes into "autumn potpourri" territory. I don't know that I'll be needing more of this, but I'm glad to have tried it.

In the imp and for most of the day, this smelled like sexy, dangerous boba (bubble) tea on me...I think some combination of the red musk, the tonka, and the cocoa made it little bit creamy and sweet, but not too sugary, and the tea came through really strongly. Tea is a great note on me, I'm discovering, so I really enjoyed this. After maybe half the day, it's mostly musk and a little bit of herbal spiciness. It's light, but still really nice. I'll definitely be thinking about a bottle of this!

This one didn't morph too much on my skin - it's clean and just slightly herbally-sweet. I love that it's clean and fresh smelling without being soapy at all. I didn't get too much wasabi in the scent, but I did get a bit of the sinus-clearing effect, which was lovely. After a few hours it's just barely hanging on, with a little bit of tea and white sage. Overall, a really unique and subtle fragrance - not necessarily what I would have imagined a tentacle-faced monstrosity to smell like, but I guess this is the fuzzy velvet version! I will likely be looking for more of this.

In the imp: Drugstore perfume aisle. Oh crap, is tonka going to do the same thing that evil, evil vanilla does and make everything cloying and generic?

On wet: Baby powder. Damn damn damn.

Drydown: A little bit of sweet smoke, but still mostly baby powder.

Later: The woods are coming out a little bit, and I get a teensy bit of coffee, but it's still cloyingly sweet. I'll give this one more chance, but I don't think this is the coffee blend of my dreams. :/

Frimp from the Lab. This one sounded intriguing, since it has a couple notes I know I love (tea, ginger) and some I'd never tried. Unfortunately, it's all high-pitched soapiness on me. Not sure what is doing that - grass? moss? Blergh, this one is not a winner.

ETA: Tried to wash it off and now it smells like lawn clippings! I'm going to blame the grass for the failure of this one - I don't like the smell of grass, and it doesn't seem to like me either.

Frimp from the lab.

In the imp: Floral soap.

On wet: Floral soap.

Drydown: Salty flowers.

The salty aquatic note is very apparent after drying, but the dragon's blood smells like strong white florals on me - not really my thing, but a very interesting scent.

I got this as a frimp from the Lab. In the imp, it was promising - kind of like a more complex Old Spice (which I quite like the smell of). But as soon as I put it on, it got super sweet and powdery. Another review said powdery lavender, and that's kind of what I'm getting too. Huge bummer, powder and florals are very much not my thing.

I just want to draw hearts all over this scent - dark, inky, bitter, earthy, just a touch of spice and brightness. There were a few minutes where all I could smell was the pomegranate and I got worried because I tend to amp fruits and florals (which aren't my favorites) to high heaven, but it settled down pretty quickly. On me, this is a lot like Cohen v. California's evil twin - a similar "feel" somehow, but with every component darker: the vetiver is charred instead of golden, black musk replaces the black tea, spicy carnation instead of breezy apple blossom, bright tart pomegranate instead of bright sweet apricot. And with a painting by one of my favorite artists of all time to boot! So awesome.

I was a little concerned because Mad Meg smelled sweet and chocolaty in the bottle and on wet - I wanted *Mad* Meg, not slightly miffed Meg! But after a little bit, the sweetness (maybe the mandarin?) settled down, and I got an amazing incense-y smoky smell. Kind of like incense smoke + burning wood. I also got a lot of sage, which I love. It stays very close to the skin, but does seem to have decent lasting power (I put it on around 1 pm and can still smell it at 9 pm). Love the painting, love the scent!

Very salty and floral on me. I like the saltiness, but the florals seem to be making me a bit sneezy and sniffly. If I got a bit more of the woods I think I could make it work, but it's just not really my style.

I'm firmly anti-foody, so this wasn't a scent I had really considered -- berries? cream?! -- but I was killing time reading reviews and it sounded so awesome I had to try it (being obscenity-inspired didn't hurt either).

In the bottle: very creamy and sweet, with a hint of masculine cologne.

On wet: very bright and fruity, has an almost astringent quality. I could kind of feel it in the back of my throat, but not in a gagging/unpleasant way like going through the perfume section at a department store.

Dry: Ahh, now the leather and cognac are coming out to bring down some of the foodiness. Kinda smells like going to the bar after hitting up the comic book store (a very familiar smell to me indeed!). There's just a hint of cream to keep the fruits from getting too overpowering (I seem to amp them).

After a while: Berries and cream are mostly what's left. I keep thinking of that weird Skittles commercial -- "I'm a little lad who loves berries and cream!" It's not something I would usually gravitate toward, but it's not so sweet that I need to wash it off.

Overall, I liked this a lot. I think one bottle is plenty, but I'll certainly grab it when I'm feeling sweet (happens every so often)!

Thanks! I know a lot of people on the forum really like foody scents, so it's sometimes hard to tell from the reviews *how* sweet something is. I'm a little relieved that it sounds like The Ta-Ta is more up my alley, since The Arabian Dance seems very hard to find!

i have The Ta-Ta and The Arabian Dance sitting in front of me and I will do a side-by-side comparison. (No Bah!- I don't own it and the whiskey would probably not play nice on my skin anyway!)

 

So, first, Arabian Dance:

 

[i[Leather, coffee, hazelnut, tobacco, and Middle Eastern spices.[/i]

 

I wore the hell out of this one in winter 2010-2011. I had largely ignored coffee as a potential scent in perfume until I tried it, but when I did, I fell in love!

 

The coffee is dark, but a bit creamy-sweet; I think this is some combination of the hazelnut and tobacco. The latter always gives me a sense of dark sweetness. It is not a fresh-roasted coffee bean coffee; it's more drinkable. The spice is noticeable. The leather is what keeps this from being a drinkable, foodie scent- it grounds the scent and makes it very sexy.

 

Now, the Ta-Ta:

 

Boiled leather, carnation blossom, coffee absolute, and tobacco.

 

This coffee is more of a strong, fresh-ground dark roast coffee note. It is not creamy or drinkable like the Arabian Dance. Now that I've tried the Spanish Red Carnation SN, I can really pick out the carnation here- there's a faint spicy floral component, but I find carnation to be one of the most wearable bpal florals (I am not a floral perfume fan). It is mostly dark coffee and smooth leather.

 

Comparing them side-by-side, the Ta-Ta is definitely the least foodie of the two. In fact, I wouldn't call it foodie at all. It's dark, almost a little gritty. The Arabian Dance is smoother, sweeter, creamier- spiced coffee with hazelnut liqueur, drunk in an elegant library. The spice and hazelnut really make a difference. In the Ta-Ta, the coffee and leather blend almost seamlessly on my skin. It's darker and drier than Arabian Dance.

I wanted to resurrect this thread to ask about comparisons between some coffee-containing LEs before I set off on a hunt for them -- any thoughts on the differences or similarities between The Ta-Ta, The Arabian Dance, and Bah! ? I'm a little afraid of the carnation (don't like many florals, although carnation seems to be less "flowery" than others) in The Ta-Ta and of the hazelnut and whiskey (don't want it to be too sweet) in Arabian Dance and Bah! I'd prefer for the coffee to be like my neighborhood coffee roaster rather than like a Starbucks.

Ugh, vanilla strikes again. On me, somehow vanilla has the power to turn anything into cheap drugstore body spray, so it ended up smelling like a middle school girls bathroom. Really a bummer since I like the other notes.