jarvenpa

I asked some time back for recommendations for a "scent of experience"--wicked, sweet, hinting at an interesting past and (hopefully) future. Something not so innocent. Amongst the suggestions was Jazz Funeral, so I added it to my imp order. I thought I'd already reviewed it, but no, looking back through this thread, doesn't seem I did. So, great time to put some on and remember my past reactions and see about my present ones. The person who recommended it mentioned booze and flowers, I think. I got--swamp water, with a lot of various flowers, and nostalgia, and, the first few times I wore it, great sorrow (sort of like Desdemona in my emotional response, not in the fragrance, but I should see if maybe they share some note that just tugs at my heartstrings or something). I should add that the fleeting swamp water smell isn't a bad one at all, and does remind me a bit of New Orleans (I spent all of 4 days there a few years ago, but I was impressed). It dries down into something I can only describe as...furry. Like my mom's old mink coat and the scent of her sultry perfume, and nylon stockings with seams down the back. Experience, but maybe not my own. Still a very complex and lovely fragrance.

a dear forumite sent me a smidgen of Snake Charmer (and some other interesting LE's) to try in time to order more if I liked...but, oh sorrow, it was a frantic time in my life. (*sorrowful sighs of regret resound*) It is such a luxurious, deep fragrance--vanilla, musk, fruit, spice, I haven't a clue what else, but it makes me think of cushions covered in soft silk, and wafting breezes, and cool cups of something exotic and sweet and crushed ice infused... the fragrance of sweet and absolute surrender (without surrendering power). Really nice throw, and long lasting. I guard my remaining droplets with zealous care.

You'll have to let us know what you did end up wearing (I don't know Queen, but it sounds like it might be right). Damn. I wish you were right here; I'd give you some of my Belle Dame in the blink of an eye.

You like a lot of the same notes I do, and if I were in your place I would probably put on La Belle Dame sans Merci unless I wanted to be a bit ferocious, in which case I would wear Faustus (but I don't think the spices were on your list?) Antique Lace is a great comfort scent in my life, but I'd go for La Belle anyway.

I was generously sent an imp of Montresor to try, and finally tried it today (too late for an order, thank heaven my reaction was: sweet, sweet fruit syrup and cat pee. I've had the cat pee reaction from one other scent (and alas, don't remember what it was, must check). It was such a strong, strange thing for a fragrance to do to my wrists I thought "olfactory halucination!" But my daughter happened by and I said "hey, sniff my wrists and tell me what you smell" She said---"Cat pee" and screwed up her pretty face, and added "and a big pile of rotting fruit". (I washed wrists and heavily applied La Belle Dame San Merci and I smell lovely now, thank you.)

Surely I tried Alice before? But perhaps I simply sniffed, passed, and dabbed it on my daughter who was the Alice-curious one. So today I did daub some on: immediate rush of sweet and spice; reminds me of shortbread cookies and tea and a touch of cloves (the carnation, perhaps). It's nice; not very intense (I am favoring intensity these days) but I have a good history of carnation fragrances. Lasting fairly well, there is a slight waiting to be debauched flavor to the innocence of this scent (which, alas, may make this just a little too sweet and young for my long term use). It brings to mind a dewy, slightly sweaty 14 or 15 year old on a summer's day, thinking not fully innocent thoughts of some older guy. It's a very white and pink sort of fragrance.

I think this was a freebie from the nice lab (must keep better track of what I order and why!) In in the imp, and at first slather on my wrists: fruit cocktail smooshed with applesauce. I would not have guessed roses, and I'm not sure what lotus smells like (fruit cocktail?). It dried down very sweet; not much throw on me, not much excitement either, just kind of "oh, yeah, some sweetish flower stuffs" (I think I have been corrupted by the heavier wood/resin/amber fragrances that I apparently love) Will try it again, and see what my daughter (better with the sweet fruit ones than I am) thinks, but for now great relief that I am not lusting for more of this one.

Himerus came as a freebie from the lab; I sniffed it upon arrival and wasn't really excited by it and had others I really, really needed to try quickly, so the imp sat around waiting till tonight when daughter asked "so, what's this one?" and I said, truly, I don't know what's in it at all, maybe I should try (daughter was happily wearing Perversion and not about to mix it up). In the imp it smelled to me of something both citric and green (daughter, smelling over my shoulder so to speak, said "mint" but I didn't think so). It was a familiar fragrance, and I had that "I know your name, but please forgive me, I don't recall it right now" feeling. As on the first day I wasn't really terribly impressed, but--why not try So, put a bit on both wrists. Oh, nice...woody and sweet and spicy. I am finding I really, really love wood and spice scents (and I once thought I was a floral soul). I do love sandalwood, and my skin takes sandalwood and just sort of hugs and releases it. A mutual love affair to be sure. After about a half hour it settles to a sweeter and slightly creamier scent. At this point I checked the actual notes, and had my usual surprise (though I got the sandalwood). I guess I don't know what orchids smell like; I didn't smell lilac, perhaps the juniper and bergamont were the green/mint/citric feeling in the begining. I like this a lot.

Freebie from the generous lab. Dark oil, hmmm. Slash it upon wrists... and then I fall in love. I had to come look up the scent notes, I had no idea what I was smelling, but it was spice and it was resin and it was good. And it lasted and lasted. Cinnamon, right. That makes sense. Second try of it I said to myself "yes, smells like cinnamon" and that is indeed a scent I love (I pile cinnamon sticks in little pottery bowls around my bookshop just so I can crush one now and then and sniff the nice hot scent). This fragrance is darker than just cinnamon (and note, this is not cinnamon in the bakery sense--the feeling is not "oh, I am pausing to have a cup of coffee and a roll"). It's sweet and heady and powerful. I don't smell violets at all (and I've tried it many times now--I keep going back to the imp and know I'm going to need a bigger supply of it soon). I like violets a lot, but if they are in here they are hidden from me. I think this is the second BPAL I've tried with frankinscense as a note, and I must like that note. I do know that I love Faustus. One of my favorites so far. Wise, wise lab--I don't think I would ever have tried this one on my own.

On me: honey and sex. Tumbled sheets in the afternoon. Oh my goodness, made me blush. Daughter (just 21, and lush thing she is) sniffed the imp and was all "I want this, I want it!" So I gave it to her. On her--honeyed almonds and sex. She reported later that she applied some at 2 in the afternoon and at dawn the next day it was still strong and sexy. She's hooked.

Faustus seems very deep crimson/soft brown to me (it has cinnamon and frankincense, I think, and something else). It is lovely.

What on earth is the matter with my nose and skin? I will have to live with this (and have, for many, many years). So, Kurukulla was a freebie from the nice lab persons. This morning, sniffed imp: okay, apples? booze? Swiped some over wrists. It felt sticky, and smelled like apple cider. Okay, I like apples, this is nice. Kind of bubbly apple cider. Five minutes later (yes, five minutes), sniff still sticky wrists, smell nothing. Nothing. Put nose up against wrist now (it has been around 2 hours) and get a very very faint sweetness. So, before writing this I looked, curiously, to see what the notes in the mix really were. I am floored. I have no idea what lotus smells like (apples???). I know what roses smell like, I really do. Smelt not one rose. Or am I just so used to roses I can't smell them? I will let my daughter try this one & see what happens there.

As seems to be getting to be a normal thing for me, I am astonished and humbled that what I experience from a scent is so different from what is apparently in the magic mixture, and what others experience. Odd skin? Odd nose? So. Viola was a frimp from the dear labbies. Slathered it on this evening (Dorian had filled and fulfilled my morning), and I got ROSES. And that's just about all. I read about the multitude of other things deftly intermingled (and I love sandalwood). But what I smell on my skin is delicate and wonderful roses. I would have sworn it was a very elegant and beautifully distilled single note rose. Not a deep red rose, but a small bunched cluster of the smaller tea roses whose colors are dying-away-shades-of-sunset: cream, warm yellow, smudges of pink and coral. And it stays rose. With just a touch of a creamy underpinning. I do not smell lilacs; I do not smell sandalwood. The creaminess might be amber, which is a favorite scent, but it is not quite amber as I know it. And I don't smell lilies in the least, though I love lilies too. I'll try it again, and if I have an entirely different revelation I will inform all and sundry. But for now, a most excellent roseate experience.

Oh, many thanks to jewelbug, who in response to a post in the recommendations thread asking for thoughts on the scent of experience, mentioned Dorian. She said she tells everyone to try Dorian, so it may not have been particularly brought to mind by my request for a scent for a poetic, wicked past. But..my goodness, does it hit the mark. First sniff from the vial: hmmm, faint something. What's the big deal? Daubed on wrists, and what the hell, behind ears, down cleavage, let's give it a whirl. Tea. Who would have thought the scent of tea would be so interesting? I happen to love black tea, and appreciate the many varieties and the importance of proper brewing and lovely china cups, though I have swilled black tea from chipped enamel under dripping trees, and liked that too. The tea scent develops with a twist of--citrus/sugar/breaths of flowers/vanilla. Is the lovely sensual sense here the musk? Maybe. Vivid image from this scent: there are flowers on a linen covered, small table. There are crumbs of scones that were made with currants and orange peel and dusted with crystals of sugar. The very proper teacups have floral motifs, and the two at this table are wickedly in love--indeed, madly in lust, beneath their quite proper clothing. This is a very elegant, decadent, delicious scent. Though when I put it on I was wearing sweatpants and hiking shoes, I strolled through the street as if I were wearing a most lovely Victorian gown, and had just come from a heated embrace with my probably married lover. Damn, I need to get a big bottle of this one.

Cairo was a frimp from the deliciously psychic labbies who obviously understand my tastes better than I do. In the vial it smelled oddly of sweet mint, and something else--lemon, a lot of spiciness. The sweet mint smell vanishes very quickly and the deeper, complex, and thoroughly delicious mingling of smokey, sweetness and spiciness waft about. Maybe some amber? I do love amber, but there is a lot of other deliciousness going on here. I love it. Thrust wrist under partner's nose. "well, at least it doesn't smell of flowers" (oh dear, years with the man and now I learn he hates my lovely floral fragrances?) Thrust wrist under youngest son's nose. He pretends to want to lick my wrists. From this child, who has Down Syndrome and is very direct, this is a positive response. I wouldn't care if they hated it. I have no idea what's in this blend, but I do know I love it; it reaches depths in my soul, it makes me purr. If this is what Cairo really smells like I should be trying to visit Egypt very soon.

Okay, this is a voyeuristic review, because Whip never touched my skin. I ordered an imp because my daughter (she will be 21 on Monday; how time flies) expressed a desire to try it. Truly, I love roses myself, and would have considered it for myself, but I gave her the first chance at testing this one out. We both sniffed in vial: I smelled, yes, roses and leather. Lovely drenched roses, and a strong, pleasant leather note. She wrinkled up her pretty nose and shrugged, and swiped some on her wrists. Whereupon the entire bookshop bloomed in rose and ...sort of soft spice, leather wafting, a touch of lemon, more roses. The throw on this, on her skin, was amazing. And it lasted for hours. I may never find out what it would do on my skin, because I surrendered it to her; for her it was exactly the right fragrance--deliciously floral, a bit naughty, and long, long lasting. She walked off with the imp, and my tender blessings.

This was a frimp from the ever generous and insightful lab... Didn't check what was in it before slathering it on wrists last night. Just read other reviews now, and am once more amazed at my strange nose. For me, Gomorrah started out as cedar and sandalwood, something very incensey/woody. Very strong, and rather nice (I like sandalwood a lot, I am finding--but I see no note that there is sandalwood in this; okay, I must like imaginary sandalwood). Then lots of dark sweetness. The image I get is of a very experienced woman wrapped in furs, with dark kid gloves, long ones, on her delicate but strong hands. Were she to take off her gloves, you would see that her nails are painted a deep crimson, and they are long. Warmth, and a hell of a lot of self confidence. This scent is a very demanding scent, and I am not really certain I have quite the moxie to pull it off. But I'd like to. It is very perfumey, in the oriental, lasting, seductive sort of class. For someone with a lot of sexual self confidence, this would be an excellent scent. I'm going to try it again in a few days and contemplate the challenge.

Just rec'd this as part of a many imp order (I am having fun, I am). Although I usually don't check the actual notes before reviewing, in this case I remembered the notes that are in Katharina, a scent ordered more for its name than for the scent-notes (though I couldn't possibly go wrong with apricot, orange blossom, and musk) So, slathered some on: Peaches!! Fresh, dripping, juicy, sticky peaches!! My mouth is watering, my body is expecting summer right now. This is not a bad thing, since the rainy, gloomy weather has had me down. Sunlight may not have arrived outside, but golly my wrists are smelling like summer. Quickly it changes to fresh peach pie. I bake a peach pie with cream and a little brown sugar and nutmeg in the height of summer, when peaches are around. The scent is very much my peach pie. Do I want to smell like peach pie? Hmmm. Doesn't last long, settles into a pretty floral-more-than-fruit scent. After a couple hours I sniff my wrists and catch a faint odor of cat pee, but it is very faint, and the flowers and ghost of peach blend in a nice fashion. It is a very sweet and happy scent, wonderful for summer, good for rainy days when you think summer will never happen. Lovely.

I think this was an imp from my first order (I am about to send in my third. Who needs groceries?); I ordered it because it had some of what I thought were my favorite scents all mingled--vanilla, rose, gardenia, how could one go wrong? What I am finding (brief discursion here, wandering away from review to generalities) is that I am loving the surprises of the more complex scents, and being seduced by things I never thought I liked. Whilst my old faves are kind of...oh, yeah, this is okay. On me this was sweet gardenia. Gardenia, gardenia, gardenia. I like gardenia, but this reminded me of the little bottle of Jungle Gardenia given me by my aunt when I was a little girl, as a special grown up perfume. I also wore a single note gardenia for some years, a while back. Thus, this one was okay. Of all the scents I've tried, this one has elicited more "what smells so nice?" than any other I've tried (except, oddly, Versailles, which smells to me like Constant Comment Tea and was a disappointment). It stays pretty damn straight on gardenia until the end, when it goes to a baby powder scent. I am, actually, relieved that I am not longing for a huge bottle of this. Too many other beautiful scents to long for. But for a gardenia lover--a great fragrance.

How about Blood Amber? I ordered an imp (I like amber a lot too) and am enjoying it. I suppose it has Dragon's Blood in it (has a red color) but it seems to go from warm amber to warm amber, with some spice.

Oh, goodness. I am sending you very good thoughts. Someone more experienced with the BPAL fragrances will have very wise recommendations I know. I note you have a big bottle of Antique Lace--for me that's the ultimate comfort scent. But what sorts of fragrances make you, personally, feel safe and centered? I'd go with whatever ones you associate with the qualities you need. May you come through all this with grace and strength.

Ordered this one as an imp; Tiger lilies have particular, special associations for me, so I was truly hoping to love Tiger Lily and thus dashed it on wrists this afternoon: warm, sweet, spicy, floral. Not really lily to my nose (I rush over to a bouquet of Casa Blanca lilies on the table in the middle of my bookshop--sniff wrist, sniff lilies, sniff wrist--no, something else.) But I really like it. Lovely spiciness wafting around me. Spice is what I mostly get, and I am wondering about my nose. Not unusual; I seem to smell different things than what I read when I get around to reading other people's reviews. Had it not been for the name I wouldn't have thought lily at all--maybe hyacinth and carnation, or (inhales wrist again raptuously, unable to think)... Could there be a touch of sandalwood in this too? There is something warm and sweet, and I love it. The odd thing about Tiger Lily (which I reapplied after it faded to a soft prettiness) is that I felt extremely confident wearing it--very "I will do exactly as I please, thank you!" Which, given that it started out to be a difficult day for me was certainly a blessing. Tiger Lily lasted well on me, and kept unfolding new dimensions of spicy-sweet. It goes on my list of things I need to get more of (oh, so many nice fragrances)

Because I love amber I ordered Blood Amber in a set of imps with my second BPAL order. This is a lovely and lasting combination of amberish scents. The red (from the Dragon's Blood?) is sort of disconcertingly like real blood as I dash it at my wrists (and it brings back old, old memories, that blood at wrists thing), but I rub it in and inhale nice powdery spicey amber plus something. Or ambers. I don't know. Has a nice throw and lasts well. As it was fading I layered on some Antique Lace--ah, a very pretty combination indeed. Oddly I am ever so slightly disappointed in Blood Amber though, because I have been indulging in and wondering at some more complicated Beth fragrances: this is basically amber and it stays basically amber. Gosh, I am a fickle soul.

Psyche came as a free imp from the nice, nice lab. In the bottle: sharp, what is this, I know this scent very well. (I never read the notes before reviewing, but I realize I have an unsophisticated nose, and am slow to recognize things). On wrists--oh, right, lavender. I like lavender, I use pure essential lavender oil in all sorts of ways. This is sharp lavender, but here comes something else, I'm not certain if I like it...incensey stuff. Within a half hour I can't smell it, unless I press my nose to my wrists, whereon there is a vague sweetness. I never know, when I get a fast fade, if it is that my nose adapts to a known scent quickly or if the oil has quickly faded. I let my son smell my wrist. He says there is a smell there. I put more on. Doesn't seem to have much throw, but is that because I am so often surrounded with lavender anyway. A couple hours later: maybe this is rose coming out? something sweetish. Kind of vague. Overall, it is nice, but maybe just too familiar to me (I make sachets with dried rose petals and lavender every year, tucking in cinnamon for spice). Still, a faint, pretty, ladylike fragrance

I like rose scents a lot and am fairly new to BPAL (and will be making my roseate list, sigh). One that smells like wildrose and other interesting things to me, which I just tried (free imp from lab) and love, love, love is La Belle Dame sans Merci. But reading other reviews I see I may have a strange nose or skin (so you might take a look at the reviews and think about your mom). I suspect I may be of your mom's generation too, not that that necessarily means a thing.