BlueSakura

tziporra, I second the rec for Perilous Parlor. On me, it was overwhelmingly syrupy sweet pear and sugar, almost sweet to the point of having to wash it off. Since you're looking for "pear cough syrup", this one might be more up your alley!

I purchased two bottles in hopes that this would be my perfect vanilla scent. Not gonna lie, I wasn't a fan when I first opened the bottle. Lab-fresh, the vanilla was drowned out by something almost vaguely medicinal (I assume that's the rum, but full disclosure: I have no experience with the Lab's rum notes). Fast forward to today, and already this blend has seemed to mellow out. The medicinal note is still there, but the sweet vanilla is starting to emerge. To my nose, this is definitely not an "edible" sugary vanilla~ it's a smoky vanilla with a hefty dose of booze, spice and something else going on in the base. I like the way it seems to be aging, so I will be hanging onto my bottles to test again in a year!

Very long shot, but does anybody know of a GC smell-alike to Beatrice? My bottle of Beatrice met its tragic end today when I accidentally emptied it all over my sweater. Beatrice has been my signature scent and I've been carefully hoarding it for years, but it looks like time for me to move on...

Perhaps Dawn: Mother? "Red roses, saffron, honey, and frankincense." On me smells like a lightly sweetened, golden rose with a bit of frankincense to ground it in the background.

BoneBone, so sorry for the delayed response! I haven't checked this thread for ages. These are some really fabulous recommendations~ Muse, Lady Macbeth, and Tavern of Hell sound like they're right up my alley (your hunches are great!). Thank you so much for the recs, I'll be popping imps of these into my next lab order!

I'm getting back into BPAL after a long hiatus, and I'm still fairly inexperienced, so I'd definitely appreciate any recs that you can throw at me! I fully intend to try them all. I'm 26 years old, 5'3", on the slender side but curvy. I have a fair/light skin tone and dark brown eyes. My hair is dark brown/black, naturally straight but permed into long, loose waves/curls. I double majored in psychology and English, and I just graduated from law school (and am awaiting bar results... Fingers crossed!). I worked at the DA's office while I was in school, which I really loved. I'm usually very agreeable, and I get along with most people I meet (with a few exceptions of course). My personal style tends to be on the dressy side. My "uniform" is a pair of heels and a flowy knee-length or shorter skirt, accessorized with dangly earrings - usually vintage-y, with pearls or a filigree. I'm a bit of a makeup fiend, and I enjoy spending time on doing my makeup when the mood strikes (shadow, liner, mascara, blush, lipstick, the works). I like going bare-faced too, though - I view makeup as more of an art form, not a necessity. Hobby-wise, I enjoy knitting and sewing. I also enjoy cooking, although my results are either hit or miss (never in between - I'm still on a lifelong quest to bake the perfect chocolate chip cookie). I spend way too much time browsing makeup blogs, and I consider collecting makeup to be a hobby (although it's getting dangerously close to an addiction for me ). I love singing and will take any chance I can get to sing embarrasingly cheesy pop anthems at a karaoke bar. I'm very visual movie-wise, and I will happily watch a plotless movie if it's visually appealing (I loved the visuals of Marie Antoinette and a lot of Tim Burton's movies - Alice in Wonderland, Corpse Bride, and Sweeney Todd). TV wise, I like The Tudors (although the historical inaccuracies drove me nuts), Glee, and Project Runway. I love reading historical fiction and mystery novels; my favorite author is Agatha Christie. Hm, what else? My favorite color is burgundy/wine red, with dark purple a close second. My wardrobe is mostly black with burgundy and white here and there (I love wearing black clothes with red or purple shoes). That's me in a nutshell! Thanks for reading.

I really think whether a scent smells masculine or feminine depends a LOT on skin chemistry. I am very much into florals, and I usually buy scents that are labelled "feminine" in the reviews. When the imps arrive, I always test all of them on my boyfriend, no matter how girly they might seem at first. (I'm trying to find a nice scent for him to wear every day~ although making him try on my flowery blends probably isn't the best way to go about it. ) Surprisingly, I've found that Moscow (a blend that's described in the review section as "feminine" and "womanly" in every other post) smells very masculine and spicy on him. He loves it, too! My best advice is to try out as many blends as you can~ you might be surprised at what your skin chemistry can do!

My goodness~ so many people have suggestions! Thank you, everyone, you all have been so helpful~! I'm saving all of your recs in a list of florals for me to try. Torrilin: I still need practice at picking out individual notes, but I think lavender seems green on me as well. Grass and herbs (I can't name any specific ones) are extremely green on me, too. Tea notes aren't green on me, though. Styro: That's a brilliant idea! I'll go check out that thread right away. Thank you~! Thank you so much again, everybody, for all your help! You guys are all kinds of awesome!

I'm still relatively new to BPAL, so I'm looking to all of you experts for help. I love love LOVE florals~ if it smells like somebody shoved me headfirst into huge mound of a billion different kinds of flowers, and then dumped a truckload of flowers more on me for good measure, I love it. But my problem is this: a lot of BPAL florals have green notes in them. I dislike green notes, but unfortunately my skin amps them up like crazy (Beltane, for example~ everybody in the reviews said that it was extremely floral, but on me, all I could smell was green with a tiny hint of flowers hiding in the back ). So, does anyone have any suggestions for super-floral scents without green notes? I already have big bottles of Bearded Lady and Beatrice and I absolutely love them, but I'd like to be able to find a GC scent to replace them when they run out (LE scent recs are welcome, though!). I am ok with vanilla as long as it's not too strong (Antique Lace is a bit overwhelming on me, for example). Thank you so much!

I love extremely feminine, floral scents, so I knew before I put this on that this wasn't going to work on me... and I was right. I smell like a leather couch. Hopefully this will work better on my boyfriend than on me.

First on: Wow~ I'm immediately hit with an herbal blast. After a few minutes: The intense herbalness has faded, and I'm getting a greenish, cool floral~ it reminds me a bit of Vinland, but the florals are stronger in this one. It's also not as headache-inducing on me as Vinland was~ always a plus. Verdict: A nice scent, but as I'm not a fan of green notes, this one's going to the swaps.

Hmm~~ this one seems to change on me. The first time I put this on, the leather overwhelmed the rose~ the smell of the leather was way too strong for me, so I washed it off. Today I decided to give it another go, though, and this time the leather seems to be much more subdued. The rose is definitely not innocent, nor is it old lady-ish~ it's definitely a womanly, sexy rose. The leather is still there, but lurking more in the background, and gives the rose an extra bite. Verdict: The changing intensity of the leather is a bit strange. As I'm not a leather fan, I think I like it enough to keep the imp, but I definitely won't be getting more.

First on: Wow, all I smell is green~ I was expecting this to be a floral, so as I'm not fond of green notes, this was an unpleasant surprise. I have a feeling that my skin chemistry may tend to amp up green notes. Later: Thank goodness, the green has faded away. Now the florals are coming forward. It's a nice blend; the rose is there but not overpowering, and there are several other flowers which I can't identify. I think I can smell the lavender. Verdict: The initial greenness of this scent put me off of it. It's nice, but not for me.

At first this was quite medicinal smelling. I got hit with that herbal medicine smell on first sniff from the bottle, and it was still there when I put it on~ not a smell that I'm fond of at all. After a while, the medicinal smell went away; on me, the berry seems to come out very strongly. It's quite sweet, almost to the point of being cloyingly so. I can smell a sort of aquatic smell, which lends a feeling of coolness and freshness that was in the description for the oil. Conclusion: It's a nice blend, and it captures the description well, but it's not for me.

From the bottle: Definitely sweet and foody smelling~ that must be the honey. On: Still sweet, but there’s a strong spicy note coming out that’s covering it~ the bergamot, I suspect. I’m not too fond of the spiciness. I can smell rose as well. Later: The spiciness has almost completely faded away, and I’m left with a gorgeous scent that smells like roses dipped in honey. Sweet, but not overwhelmingly so. Verdict: That spicy note bugs me, but as it fades away over time, I think I’ll be keeping this one. I’ll just have to put it on earlier in the day so that I’ll smell like roses and honey for more of the day.