mspixieears

This so reminds me of Fiji, as does Moai, Moana & Tiki King/Queen/Princess. I imagine Hawaii might smell similar to Fiji

Pepper reminds me a lot of a more gingery Alice. Not too foody but definitely milky.

CD: Faeu Boulanger Ariadne Brunell - except the latter is mixed with lilies or another heady flower - reminds me of bike riding past some local dry reed creeks. Worm Moon 2008 - the bog scent is stronger than the lunar component (Edited to add extra rec)

I get a salty sea air rum scent from Port Royal and in Pirate Moon! Has anyone mentioned John Barleycorn? Am dying to try it but never seem to get round to listing a decant of it, wondering how beery it'd be.

Indeed! The Sound of Insects from the Luper update is also a very nice tea blend Yes yes yes! Mrs Grose is perfume black teaish on me. Pepper, Alice & White Rabbit are milky sweet black tea scents on me. A lot of the Shunga/Japanese cherry/plum/peach blossom + green, lemon notes come out green tea-scented too. Probably why I can't bring myself to get rid of The Spell of Amorous Love even though my skin eats it. Shadwell sounds nice, but The East I just get flowers and faraway spices though some mention tea overtones.

Ooh! I had 3 recs, but 3rd got eaten by fast reply box when switching browser tabs…will update if I remember. Velvet Unicorn - this is awesome, thought I'd hate it but it's textbook pink wispy sweetness! Diary of a Lovestruck Teenage Cannibal - lots of notes listed but I get pink spun sugar amped up.

I know it's a TAL but I get warm mint from Dixie Love Perfume. Thought I was going nuts till one of the experienced TALers told me that the mintiness isn't unusual. There's no pepper scent in that, though. Sometimes I get mint-like notes from absinthe/aniseed-type scents and pepper from pimento (Ichabod Crane has a wonderfully true pimento in it but it is LE). Lemon verbena also gets warm-herbal minty on me too.

Old-school Bathsheba (with the older labels) was my plum heaven fragrance, but Midwinter's Eve and Budding Moon were good too, though the plum in BM tends to fade to let the florals in. Bordello is also plummy but with a dash of red wine, seems a bit boozier. Was surprised that Purple Snowballs was as plummy as it was - was hoping for more blackcurrant

Tamora? It's like a peachy version of Titania (which is sadly too rockmelony for my body chemistry, alas).

I wear Budding Moon & Chrysanthemum Moon heaps in summer, as well as Dirty and Swank. Anything with notes like plum blossom, coconut seem to distract me from the horror that is Australian summer, sigh.

GCs: Ultraviolet, Water of Notre Dame, Lilium Inter Spinas, Le Serpent Qui Danse - anything with green, fresh, crisp notes? LEs: I also get a warmer vibe from Signior Dildo & The Nymphae Avernales. I adore SD but just can't identify or describe what notes make it so alluring even though I've read the reviews. Orris, ozone and violet tend to do that on me

Mouse's Long and Sad Tale I find really sad and wistful, less so - Antique Lace and Black Lace too.

I'm not sure if this helps at all, but.. does yours smell very heavily of jasmine and something a little like salty wood? Mine did not smell at all like any of the reviews of sweetness and fruity florals. However, as far as I know the person who took my bottle off my hands was quite pleased with it, so maybe there was a batch variation that didn't work as well with certain people or something like that? (If that's true, then I am sad I didn't try it again while I still could.. because it had all the possibilities of a favorite for me.) (Side note: Tee-hee, I said salty wood. Yes, I am 12 at heart.) And here's something unrelated that I noticed with Blossoms in Springtime -- I got myself a backup and accidentally reached for it instead of my first bottle last week. My first bottle is nearly clear oil and the scent clings pretty close to the skin no matter what I do. My second bottle is golden/amber in color and, while the overall scent is the same, it has more throw and amps like woah when I step out into the sun and get all warm. So instead of labeling it as my backup, I've labeled it as "strong" so I can use it when I want something a little heavier. lulz @ salty wood! Alas, no, no jasmine at all present, it smells more like a deep, woodsy, resiny, musky dark rose? It actually reminds me of The Balcony or a woodier Tabula Smaragdina. It's gorgeous but I'm super super certain it isn't The First Encounter at all. I've contacted customer service about it but it hasn't been a particularly fruitful exchange - to date

This is interesting given I feel this has just happened to me and the Lab told me that there was nothing wrong with the fragrance in question. My bottle of The First Encounter DOES NOT SMELL LIKE THE FIRST ENCOUNTER but I haven't been offered a replacement or a refund - I was told by customer service that they have no quality control over decants. The decants I got were from two separate sources and they are identical! The bottle's liquid isn't even the same blooming colour as the decants! What do I do?

I looked back on old posts and someone mentioned Bathsheba. This is not just my favourite BPAL plum scent, it's my fave BPAL ever - I think I'm about to get my third bottle of it? I really amp the plum over the florals. Bordello is lovely but for some reason has very little throw on me, it's like a 'Bathsheba-lite' - less juicy and ripe. Midwinter's Eve is also divine. Not super sugary and tamer. BPAL plum is probably one of my favourite notes in the catalogue so I'll be checking out some of the recs in this thread. I know one that didn't work all that well on me was Kitsune-Tsuki several years back so might give it another shot.

I know you said no rose but these are great Indian room fragrance types - Feu Follet, BPTP Red Rose, Tabula Smaragdina - not traditionally Indian but they remind me of Indian incense. Non-rose ones: Khajuraho, Kanishta, Chintamani-Dhupa, Diwali, Pickled Imp. Then there's the Heroines series! Virahotkantita, Svadhinaopathika, Kalahantarika, Khandita. I remember thinking at the time that Khandita wasn't one I'd wear because of the saffron but it's epic Indian!

Snake Oil (especially aged!) and Budding Moon. Took Tiki Princess on her maiden voyage the other night and it's so damn sexy. Generally orchids and heady florals like tuberose, gardenia, fecal jasmine are sex on my skin whereas foodie scents tend to be...more innocent *giggle*

You should publish these as a zine! Do you ever collaborate with writers?

I swear YSL Yvresse (formerly Champagne) and BPAL Bon Vivant are separated twins!

Bon Vivant is champagne and strawberries on me but is definitely sparkly. It's so sophisticated (well, to me, hee hee).

This stuff is hot. It smells wonderful - as many have noted, jasmine features strongly and not sure what else, possibly sandalwood or something, and definitely cinnamon as it burnt my skin a little on initial application, even though I've never had a problem with it in other blends. I know this is crazy, but there is also a slight...crayony smell about it too! Does it work? Well, to be honest, when I wore it last I was pretty bloody randy to begin with but it still made me...um, more ardent. Again, hard to judge if it worked in relation to my bedfellow when said person was fairly...open to my advances. Still, I'm pretty sure it's liquid sex and I'd like to see how it compares to other TAL love/lust/attraction blends I have and am waiting to test.

Today, I was circulating using this, Clarity and Concentration and not only found its scent the most pleasant out of the three, but also the most effective. As stated in my reviews for Clarity and Concentration, I am battling medication-related lethargy and it's beginning to affect my work. Out of the three blends, I found this the most successful at keeping my sluggishness at bay, so I'm going to keep on using this decant and if I need it, will definitely consider purchasing a bottle for use at work. I shall also try using it for when I'm doing writing or editing and see how it helps too.

Tried this a few times, specifically for work - at present am really struggling with medication-induced drowsiness. I like to use this alongside Clarity, but don't really find it very effective. The smell isn't overly pleasant to me but with TALs I am cool with that as I know they are blends with a purpose. I guess this, as well as Clarity, I find that they perk me up like sugar, or like coffee, but don't find the effects overly everlasting. I'd like something a little more long term acting. I still find that the underlying brain sluggishness is there albeit masked, if that makes sense.

I have tried this a couple of times for when I feel very sluggish at work. At the moment, I'm having a lot of trouble concentrating and staying alert - partly due to some meds I take to keep me well. I don't like the scent of this but I'm willing to wear these blends because I know they have a specific purpose. While they brighten me up a little, I can't say that I really find these to work as well as I'd like. They perk me up every time I sniff where applied.

The first time I tried this, I didn't think it really worked. I applied it and set to work on some exercises in order to write some good poetry. I didn't find it particularly productive. I do have theories about why - the medication I was on at the time dulled me greatly and I wasn't really able to experience much. However, recently, I attended a poetry workshop and despite being extremely tired, was on fire - not so much for my own writing, but felt that I gave myself fully to providing constructive criticism on everyone's poems (there were eight of us). It was a fantastic feeling, just being in the lit analytical 'zone'. As for its scent, it's very lemony, to my nose. But because these blends have specific purposes, I tend not to focus so much on the scent and whether or not it's to my liking - unless it were headache-inducing, which this is not. I need to start using my bottle more often.