dronzeka

Hi folks - I'm bumping this to ask if anyone has found any good BPALs (or TALs for that matter) for coping with dizziness? A medication I'm on (or possibly one I'm going off...it's not quite clear...) is giving me awful dizzy spells and it's driving me nuts. I read through the recommendations here and have made note of various things people have suggested for headaches/nausea, because the light-headedness kind of makes me feel nauseous in a kind of sick-headachey way. But if anyone has found any scents helpful in easing dizziness, I would love to hear it! Thanks!

Well, for me, Saturday is a day of relaxation and fun - the day of the week when hooray, I can relax and do what I like! So it would have to be a scent that embodies that kind of casual relaxation (I realize this doesn't work with the mythological/word origins of Saturday, but it's what I think of). I think for me, maybe Alice or Cheshire Cat? Mad Tea Party scents seem right for a Saturday!

Heh, I had rather a different reaction than Juniperus. In the bottle: BLACK MUSK. (This might not be so bad except that on me, black musk = dark, heavy, harsh, a little like turpentine!) Wet: BLACK MUSK. Dry: BLACK MUSK. Hours later, somehow the black musk backs off and there's a very pretty warm, slightly fruity floral, and I can kind of see why people who like black musk actually like it. But wow, I'm not prepared to wait out the black musk to get there, sigh.

MMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmm! This is so lovely! It's very pink -almost sort of coral or fuschia (in my head, not in the imp!). I definitely get the pepper, but again, it's pink - it's got a little bit of softness, not that harshness of black pepper. A spicy zing, but not harsh. The honeysuckle and passionfruit combine for a beautifully sweet fruitiness, grounded by that golden powder of amber. Gorgeous. MUST have this in a big bottle!!

In the bottle – hmm! water? some flowers and maybe honey? Wet – I have no idea how to describe this – my nose is attached to my arm but I’m still baffled. It’s wet, and flowery, in a light wildflower way. Dry – this is kind of a light and juicy scent? It's wet and flowery (duh, I said that already! Sorry!). There's almost a spiciness to the flowers, a little like carnation? Quite a bit later - this is very different on final drydown! This is where the touch of honey becomes evident - it's a very light, floral honey, but it's there. This final drydown is quite lovely!

Sooooooo pretty! Okay, how best can I describe this? It's a very soft, skin-scent floral. In the bottle, I smell mostly yellow rose and honeysuckle - very sweet and fresh and clear - with maybe a tiny bit of honey. On, the musk and the chrysanthemum start to appear, and add a warm, light spiciness and depth to the other flowers. Amber brings a sort of golden powderiness to the party, to underpin everything else. There's a little hint of mandarin as well, bringing another layer to the whole. I don't really get cream or honey particularly on the drydown, but it's such a lovely complex blend of notes that I have a hard time distinguishing anything, really. (Unfortunately I still have no idea what wide-throated yellow monkey-flower accord smells like, but it must be beautiful, because this blend is so lovely!) This is very soft and subtle, but also definitely there - it's not a vanisher on me - it's soft but not faint, if that makes sense. And it's just LOVELY. It's very sweet, creamy, golden, and I want to bathe in it. I am SO GLAD I bought this unsniffed!!

Mmmmmmmm, this is delicious! Man, I completely misjudged the latest update, because this is by far my favorite one, and I didn't even buy it initially - I just got confused by all the notes ("too many notes!"). Anyway, in the bottle this smells like some kind of fruity ginger hard candy. On, it gets smoother and creamier and makes me think completely of rice pudding - an exotic rice pudding, kind of like the Indian kind that has cardamom and spices in it, except that this is an east Asian pudding with citrus and ginger and a little bit of tea. It is a lot like Hungry Ghost Moon, which is also one of my favorite scents (and Mattie, I love lavender too, so we must be scent twins!). I don't get any sandalwood/smoke at all, which is fine by me. Such a lovely scent! (And I realize I've made it sound very foody here, but that's not how it feels on at all - I am sort of the anti-foody, so if you don't like foody scents, you shouldn't worry about this one.)

This starts out entirely lavender, and stronger than even I usually like lavender (I love the stuff) - almost harsh, I think maybe because there's a little frankincense? But that harshness quickly goes away, and as it dries town, this transforms from lavender almost-SN to a light and airy orchid. It's very pretty, but sadly it seems to vanish on me - after about an hour I can only get a hint of orchid if I practically inhale my wrist. I'm bummed, because the notes sounded wonderful, like a dream come true, but on me it's not that wonderful. (It is really lovely, but for other people, I think.)

This is just beautiful! In the bottle, and wet, it smells primarily of rose, but a gentle rose rather than the haughty fresh Peacock Queen. As it dries, more florals come out - lilac, something violet-y, just general soft sweet flowers. I don't get any patchouli scent from the patchouli leaf, which is a relief since patchouli doesn't agree with me. A hint of lemon brightens the blend, and honey adds a slight syrup-y sweetness. This is gorgeous - a kind of deep-pink-light-purple color, lovely and sweet and not heavy.

Weird. I was really surprised when I read the notes for this, because I don't get vanilla from this at all - I get a very perfume-y aquatic kind of scent; all I could think of was the ocean. Maybe I'll have to try it again and see if I was just insane or chemically off that day, but it may be simply that I amp the sea moss to high heaven. It's just really really ocean blue on me, and a little too strong and leaning toward the masculine.

A deceptively sweet scent; just like the Critters themselves, the perfume is fluffy, poofy, soft, snuggly, and googly! Five vanillas with Moroccan jasmine, white gardenia, and pink grapefruit. I just am not at all sure what to make of this... in the bottle, I smell grapefruit, which I usually like, but this is really tart. And there's something behind it... on, wet and initially, it smells rather nasty. I think some of it is the jasmine, which is usually fine on me but not always my favorite smell. It's kind of harsh initially, with a smell almost like something is burning??? If I wait long enough, it dries down into a light, sweet vanilla that makes me think a little of Antique Lace. I like it quite a lot at this point, but am not sure it's worth keeping the bottle just for this, because it takes a while to get here. Plus it's somewhat faint, and since it reminds me of Antique Lace, and I LOVE Antique Lace from the get-go, this may have to be swapped. I'm so disappointed, though, because the notes all sounded wonderful!

If you pay with CCNow, it will say that the order has "shipped" when it really means that the order has reached the lab (since CCNow is a separate company from the lab, the order doesn't go from one to the other instantly). So all that means is that the lab now knows what you want - the order won't actually ship until you get a Click'N'Ship notice from the lab.

This is wonderful, and I completely understand why it's one of the more popular scents. It took me a while to try it, because the description sounded a little meh - a little staid and boring - and I didn't read the reviews. Anyway, for me the description completely doesn't evoke this scent at all. It's primarily vanilla, but a very creamy, floral-y vanilla, not foody at all (even though I too get a hint of vanilla mint, which sounds like it would be foody, but it's not!). It's soft and creamy in texture, and it's also creamy in color for me (though that's probably because of the name? I'm sort of suggestible). I get strong but not heavy or overwhelming vanilla, with a hint of something drier (maybe slightly powdery?) underneath - perhaps the linens; it does evoke textile imagery to me (again, the name...). It's incredibly warm and comforting without smothering or going sickly. It's kind of like a great big soft white Gund teddy bear (okay, that's just weird, but hey, I'm running on little sleep these days!). It's like a beautifully hand-knit cashmere shawl, soft and thick and warm but weightless. It's like a bed made up with wonderful fine-woven sheets, washed and worn till they feel almost like suede, with a light and warm down comforter on top. Anyway, I love this, and will always have to have a bottle on hand!

There's a pic in the first review in the reviews thread. It's an excellent label! Of course, I envision a woman in Tudor dress, because that's what "Bloody Mary" says to me, but I'm kind of a history geek. ETA: ooops, beachbabealways beat me!

I completely get the mint chocolate chip or Peppermint Patty comparison - I get some kind of ghost-chocolate thing with this, too! But it is extremely yummy and refreshing. For me, it's not as smooth and creamy as Lick It Again gets - it's almost rougher, if that makes sense. Definitely crisp, refreshing, peppermint vanilla.

I get a lovely herbal mint from this, underpinned by soft florals, though I can't really pick out any specifically. It's a very pale kind of scent, making me think of the pale clear pastels that follow a setting sun down the sky. Beautiful.

This is what it sounds like from the description - sweet, cherry, cream and sugar. I get glimpses of powdered sugar, and I agree with the description of it wet as cherry bubblegum. It seems a little overwhelming wet, but it dries down into something softer. If you like cherry, you'll like this. I find it a little too sweet, but I'm not much of a cherry fan - I was wondering if the "chunky, red, glistening fruits" might include something other than cherry, but cherry is all I get out of this.

In the bottle: a whole bunch of stuff I can't immediately identify. On, initially: Mmmmmmm! I knew people had said that this smelled like the old Milk Moon with grapes, and I wasn't sure what that would be like, but I like it. I definitely get that creamy milk note, one which on me makes me think of basmati rice pudding or coconut milk. There are also lots of sweet grape-y fruits here - rich sweet fruits, not bright tropical ones or cold-climate apples and pears. At first, there is lots and lots of grape, but as it dries, I also get fig (yum!), and a slight tartness from the pomegranate, and then I think maybe a teeny bit of honey is lurking behind. Will have to see what it does on drydown... I will say that it's a little olifactorily confusing to wear this, because the milk note triggers my old Milk Moon scent memory, and the additional fruit here is a little bit startling. I go back and forth between thinking "GORGEOUS!!!" and thinking that the notes are a little discordant. But still waiting for final drydown... Later: this is really similar to the old version, but with a lovely fruity sweetness to it. Sadly, I'm not really getting any honey from this. It does still confuse me to smell the milk note, because I associate it with the very-slightly-coconutty, slightly-minty scent of the old Milk Moon, but of course here it's fruity and different. But since I love the old Milk Moon, the similarity makes me really happy! I'm really liking this!

Hmm. In the bottle, I smell mostly wood of some variety, and caramel/butterscotch. Neither are especially great on me, but what the hell... On: Initially there is a lovely whiff of apricot, but it's rapidly swallowed up by the patchouli, which initially really dominates. I'm iffy about patchouli, so I'm still very much on the fence about Ventriloquist Dummy (which I want to abbreviate as VD but that just feels so very wrong...). Okay, as this dries the patchouli's calming down a bit, and I get a little bit more caramel, as well as possibly cedar. Hmmm. Yup, cedar... Actually, you know, requieminblack's review at the opening of this thread pretty much sums up my own experience. VD does seem fairly masculine (which isn't what I usually associate with caramel! but of course, this is BPAL, so anything goes), and it does fade a bit. It's funny, cedar isn't usually that good on me, but there's something about the patchouli that's redeeming it, and usually hazelnut and caramel are horrible, but they're not here. It's not horrible (what a ringing endorsement, sorry!). Actually, it's really interesting and I think quite well done, and like someone earlier said, it does remind me of Tiresias, in the way it feels on me (even though there's no tobacco note). It's not even that it's misbehaving on me, I think it works, but it's not really a me scent - I'm not much for woods/patchouli (and yet, I bought the bottle anyway. Gotta love addiction!). Anyway, while I think I was hoping for more "savage" apricots to make this a fruity-sweet wood scent, like Tramp says, it does make sense that a ventriloquist's dummy would smell like wood! If you are a cedar/patchouli fan, don't let the sweet notes in this scare you off -they just add a kind of complexity or depth, and aren't at all overwhelming. I don't think it's for me, but it is a fascinating and wonderfully balanced scent.

Damn, now I REALLY wish I were able to go to Will Call! (ETA: I should probably clarify that my post was really in response to Sue Donym's awesome description, but you know, Puddin in a boa, that would work too. )

Add me to the Bien Loin d'Ici lovers! I'm crap at IDing notes, especially these notes, but it's wonderfully sweet and spicy without being at all foody or floral. For me, it deepens a little as it wears. I do NOT get the kind of fake hazelnutty caramel ick that ruined Gluttony and Misk U for me - in fact, I don't get a lot of caramel at all; perhaps in the first sniff from the imp, but on me it's primarily spicy incense and what I presume is red musk - rich without being heavy. It lasts really well - I tested it out a few hours before I went out for some exercise, and kept lifting my wrist to my nose so I could check it out while I sweated! It's a very sophisticated scent, and makes me think a little of Mama-ji - for me, Mama-ji was too far outside my usual light/fresh/citrus/floral range, but this is still different and exotic (for me), without being over the top.

Love love LOVE this scent. Hmmm, that's not a very helpful review, is it? Let me try again. There's a rich fruitiness, a kind of nice ruby color, that's sweet without being sickly or foody, softened by the lovely golden powderiness of amber. The amber keeps the fruit from being over the top, and the fruit makes the amber lovely and juicy. These are lovely dark autumnal fruits, rather than the light and bouncy tropical kind. (Of course, it turns out that I love these rich red fruity scents - I recently discovered I adore the Hanging Gardens, too.) It doesn't morph very much on me, and lasts really well, too. Yummmmm....

This is so wonderfully beautiful, it's reassuring just by scent alone. I agree with all the other reviews that describe this as lavender and clove, but it all melds together into something incredibly warm, soft, and soothing. I really need this today - I have a ton of work to do that I've been putting off (which always makes tackling it that much harder), and I woke up feeling kind of panicky about an upcoming review at work, which makes me just want to hide on the internet and not do anything. I'm not very practiced with formal rituals, so I've anointed myself, including the back of my hands (I'm on the computer so much that anything on my wrists just rubs off on the keyboard rest - though my computer smells nice!), and when I feel a bit panicky, I sniff the back of my hand. It makes for a lovely calming, grounding moment. We'll see how well it helps me function over the rest of the day, but I already love this so much I had to come here and post about it. I think I may have to add to my credit card debt and buy a bottle!

Oh dear.... In the bottle, and wet, this is just BEAUTIFUL. Fresh, sweet, spicy-floral, bright. A kind of creamy pink. I love it - LOVE it. And then it dries down into something sort of odd and musty. I keep sniffing it, wondering where my lovely fresh wonderful floral has gone, and it's just - meh. Stupid skin chemistry. This will be SO pretty - on someone else! (And there's the lovely pink skelly-girl on the bottle, too!)

This is soooooooooo pretty! I really can't distinguish between the different notes, but the overall effect is something bright, fresh, and entirely spring-y. I can smell the cream and cakes, especially in the bottle, but they don't leap out and scream FOOD at all - it's a bit more like the milk in Alice, a food note without making the scent foody. As someone said above, I think they just ground the florals a little. It's just absolutely lovely. Yay springtime!