Hazy

I don't mean unisex scents -- I mean scents inspired or influenced by stories or ideas containing androgynous, genderqueer, or otherwise non-binary characters or themes. Some examples I'm already aware of are Aizen-Myoo (which smells feminine on me but still merits a bottle purchase) and Tiresias, the Androgyne (which I can't wait to track down and test). Am I missing anything? Suggestions of scents that evoke this type of imagery for you, for personal reasons, are also welcome. Thanks in advance!

Oh gosh no, this is perfect. I have all those scents on my wishlist (not to mention drag kings and pirates are some of my favorite things). This could well be NSFW/private, but if not, do you have any pictures from when you're performing? It would be so neat to see.

Yes, yes, yes! Half-Elf is one of maybe three scents ever that I've NEEDED more of on first sniff. I first tried it yesterday, and I bought a 5ml today. I get sandalwood (a love note for me), something sweet and almost vaguely lemony that must be the beeswax, and a hint of musk that works beautifully on me, for once. It's honestly a very sexy scent, and fairly masculine. The woodsy aspect is gentle on me, but I do get a hint of the vetiver others have mentioned. To my skin, Half-Elf is just what the description claims, and I can't wait to use it as a character scent. It seems complex enough to stand alone, but I've also layered it with Chaotic and Cleric, which blends beautifully and seems to help the scent last longer. I love it so much that I want to get the rest of the RPG scents right now, so I can pick out the nicest-smelling combination! I think it would go well with other GC scents, too. I have a hunch that Coyote and Dorian will both layer beautifully. If you want this for layering purposes, or if sandalwood/woods in general work on you, Half-Elf is probably a good bet.

I tend to play a Chaotic Neutral Half-Elf Cleric, so I tried that combo out as soon as possible, minus the Neutral since I don't have it yet. I definitely need to apply Chaotic gently, as the musky element of it seems to amp on me, but it's a nice and evocative combination so far. Unusual, certainly, but accurate. I need to get some Neutral, and I need to try out the Druid and Bard classes with all this. As others have said, Chaotic Halfling is absolutely delicious. I have no idea what I'd add to it, though! None of the available classes really click in my mind.

This has turned out to be such an interesting topic. I'm just getting to the point where my BPAL collection is big enough that I've tried more than one imp/decant of several scents, and I often notice at least slight differences in them. Thanks to posts here plus trial and error, I've managed to figure out that the differences are almost always due to aging. Maija, let me know how it turns out if/when you do buy a bottle of Eden! I'm planning on buying a lab-fresh bottle soon as well. I adore my aged one, but I want the over-the-top sweetness I got out of my imp, too.

Maija - Sorry for the late reply, I've been away from the forums for a few days! I'm retesting them all again right now. The newest-looking imp is very strong and sugary-sweet with a lot of fresh greenness and a strong "toasted" smell, and the rather old bottle is more mild and gently sweet, with the fig itself easier to pick out and the green a little harder. I am at least finding the green this time though, maybe something was up with my skin chemistry before. There's a good amount of difference, but they're the same scent at heart. Keep in mind that my bottle could possibly be more than ten years old! I would assume that a new bottle will smell closer to your imp than my old bottle does.

keileya, I've been frimped Malice a few times (which must be a sign, since I didn't care for it at first) and noticed that the oil comes in two colors, both almost identical to what's shown in your picture. They all smell the same to me, though. On the other hand, I have three Edens and they all smell different. One secondhand imp that looks relatively lab-fresh, one older imp, and one (cobalt, old style label) bottle. I fortunately love them all, but aging seems to take out the greenness and tone down/blend in the sweetness quite a lot. Can anyone who has experience with how oils age suggest whether I should buy a new bottle for when I want the green effect? I'd really like it, but I don't know how quickly it will age, or whether the scent of my newer imp might just have been a batch variation.

I adore this gloss. I want a big bottle. It's perfect, crisp, and fresh, just green enough, and lasts long without being overwhelming. Like LiberAmoris, I get a hint of something a little juicy-fruity too, but not much, and it works.

This is STRONG on me, two sprays and I can smell it clear through the next day. It is lovely though, both as a scent and a hair product, and truth be told I turned a lot of heads when I went out wearing it. (Although I wore Snake Oil as well, so who can tell which one was working the magic?) The leather is most prominent, followed by the musk, which is nice since I don't often like the way musk smells on my skin. In Eldritch Dark perfume oil, on the other hand, the roses and honey rise to the top. So they're two different creatures on me, but I like them both.

This is so bizarre since I'm not that new, but I didn't even realize there was a scent called Wilde. Thank you! Looks like a bunch of notes that will work on me, too. Dorian turned out gorgeous and androgynous on me, and as a wonderful bonus, it's one of very few BPALs that my partner loves to smell on me! I have a couple others from this thread yet to test, and will be ordering more soon.

Oh my goodness, am I ever in love with this scent. I'll spare you all the backstory, but the first fragrance I ever purchased was Demeter's Thunderstorm, and I adored it. It instantly became my signature scent, and I've been on the lookout for a similar BPAL ever since. Well, on my skin anyway, Hallowe-e'n 1914 is it. Especially when it first goes on, it's all damp greens and moss and earth. The more it dries, the more the faint sweet and smoky notes come out to play. I expected for them to lend the scent a warm feeling, or give me some candy-sweet or bonfire imagery, but that doesn't happen on me. What these notes evoke, in all honesty, is the feeling of finally stumbling across a familiar neighborhood after wandering out in a storm. It doesn't feel very autumn-y to me, though. (Says the Floridian, so take this with a grain of salt.) There is a note I dislike that I've smelled before, which I think may be some kind of greenish wood. It's not too prominent though, and it somehow disappears entirely when I really slather the oil on. The throw seems decent, but diminishes fast -- which is no big deal for me. I'd have bathed in Thunderstorm and I can and will bathe in this little lovely.

I don't think I've tested any imp so much as I've tested Black Tower, because I so desperately want to love it. The description and most of the notes are right up my alley -- sandalwood, ozone, leather, ivy. In the imp it's straight-up ivy with a nice damp ozoney edge, but as soon as it hits my skin, all I get is sweet, slightly smoky wine. The notes I like do come out a little later (especially the ozone and sandalwood), and they're certainly evocative, but the wine never fades quite enough. Every once in a while I get a whiff of what I want Black Tower to be, which is why I keep coming back to it and hoping. But sadly, the smoky sweetness is too loud and too cloying on me.

Whoa, nice call on 51, that would be perfect. Carlos is hard. Mostly because I want to have something...jolty/mechanical because science, but also coffee because my headcannon is that he drinks it like water, but also I want to add what a sweet, curious and kind character he is, or was to my last recollection since I'm about 7 episodes behind. So either Dia De Los Reyes (warm and kind and comfy) or something like Galvanic Goggles would be my guesses, although I'm eager to see what anyone else would think. I may have developed a minor WTNV obsession since the last time I was hanging around this thread. I HAVE to get my hands on 51. I nearly cried after losing an ebay auction for it yesterday, no lie. This might be weird, but I thought of Carlos immediately after sniffing Variety of Pleasing Amusements. In my headcanon anyway, he's sweet but with such a subtle undeniable risqué side. The honey is his usual adorable personality, the tobacco is smoke from a science experiment gone wrong, and the leather -- well. On a similar note I'd totally go for Ifrit as a Cecil scent. Robotic Scarab is my only Steamworks scent, and it's okay for Carlos, but it just lacks the warmth I associate with him. Maybe Lysander, of all things. It's very soft and gently masculine on me, nothing that evokes Carlos in particular, but the quote/description just kills me: the course of true love never did run smooth. I've been wearing Anubis to RP (fanon character) Desert Bluffs Carlos, though it doesn't work for regular Carlos, for me -- it's too clinical and too invasive all at once, and where Carlos is warm, this guy is just parched and dry. It goes a little delicate and feminine on me, though. And I NEED a Kevin scent. I love that fool. I want to douse myself in whatever he smells like and never look back. (...Blood Popsicle?)

Lovely suggestions. Thank you again, everyone, and I'm glad some of you appreciate the thread! Jareth sounds like a definite winner from all these descriptions. I am really interested in Xiuhtecuhtli, and while Kabuki may be a little different from what I'm looking for, it did pique my curiosity the first time I ran across it. I've gotten sooo curious to try The Sea Foams Milk lately. The Blood version wasn't...as bloody as I'd hoped, but I recently discovered that milk agrees with me, and unisex beachy/aquatic-ish fragrances are the only commercial ones I've ever really enjoyed anyway. I love doing this. Old Demons of the First Class goes ultra masculine on me and so of course I love wearing it with lace. I need to try out feminine scents with men's clothing sometime -- I have this one cosplay character who's just begging to get me out of the house in a suit and tie and the sweetest possible Beaver Moon. Balame, amazing choices as always. I had no idea about any of that in regard to Dionysus, and it's fascinating to learn. Haloa sounds like it will be a definite win for me personally. The others could go either way on me, but I love the imagery behind all of them, and something about Harvest Moon is striking me as a must-try ASAP.

Excellent suggestions, thank you, Dusk! I think Mary Read is already on my wishlist, but absolutely should be if not. Schrodinger's Cat is one I actually hadn't heard of that I think I'd enjoy. I don't know if Bearded Lady will work on me because of the violet, although I will give her a try if I ever have the opportunity, and Jareth/David Bowie -- well, how can you go wrong with him? I'm curious about whether you have any personal favorites on this list? Judging by your signature, I think we may have some likes in common.

Ifrit was my first ever bottle and my first big disappointment. It's a good scent, but not the fierce, masculine scent I was hoping for. Red musk always smells more feminine and perfumey on me than I'd like, and many of the other notes (dragon's blood, cinnamon, tobacco) tend too gentle on my skin to make up for it. Ifrit also ends up softer than I prefer, and turns powdery after a while. I still do get a very strong sense of warmth, enough that I like to wear Ifrit in cold weather even though it isn't my favorite. To others who feel the same way: try layering Ifrit with something ambery. I have a bottle of Amber from Demeter and find that it helps calm down the musk and make the scent last longer. I'm also fairly sure that amber is what makes me love Le Lèthè in spite of the musk, so it's worth a shot. (I bought Ifrit a year ago and find that while all the above has held true, I can now pick out the ginger easily and I get a slightly milky smell on drydown. I'm not sure if this is due to aging, changes in skin chemistry, or more experience with BPAL, though.)

Going to try out my reviewing skills for the first time with a well-known scent containing only notes I've tried elsewhere. Here goes nothing! In the imp: I do get a weird whiff of hard liquor, but on second sniff I get strong frankincense and a little bit of cinnamon. Wet: Cinnamon is gone, violets haven't arrived yet. As it begins to dry, the violet slowly comes out, and it starts smells oddly like those jelly shoes that were popular in the early 90s did after sitting out in the sun for a while. I actually like this, it evokes fond memories, and I'd probably buy a bottle if this particular scent lingered. Dry: The longer I wear it, the more prominent the violet grows, and the soapier it gets. Eventually I'm left with almost the same smell I get when wearing Ultraviolet: dusty old soap. Shame, since I love violet in non-BPAL perfumes and was excited about trying a more masculine scent. I've tried Faustus several times at different times of month and just can't like it.

All of this sounds amazing. I can picture some of it suiting other characters, too. Ice is a must-try for this character. The first time I saw it, I worried that it'd end up smelling too feminine, but the description you've mentioned would be a wonderful fit. Some of the others were already on my wishlist, and I'll see how many I can fit into my next imp order. Moon of Ice is another must, if I can find it -- this character and his three siblings are named after the moons of Jupiter, and I can't imagine a scent like that not working for one of them. Thanks so much! If you're interested, I would be so happy to share some excerpts sometime. (I'll also probably be back soon to bother kind people like you to make suggestions for another round of characters.)

Can I borrow this thread to ask for recs for my NaNoWriMo characters? I have a few in mind, but I'll start with the one who's giving me the toughest time. You know the "chosen one" trope you see in fantasy? This character thinks it applies to him. He's built his entire life around the idea that he's the human manifestation of a god. He has trampled over everyone he loves in his quest to reach the realm of the gods, where he believes he'll be welcomed with open arms. Unfortunately, his interpretation of the religious texts is wrong -- the closest thing to a "chosen one" isn't him but his mother, and all that lives in the realm is a civilization more advanced than his own. When he discovers this, he decides he'd rather declare war than alter his self-image. And because the system of magic is partly based on how well one can imagine things into existence, his capacity for self-delusion actually does manage to lend him nearly godlike powers. He's devout, but the god he worships is neither benevolent nor malicious. He's selfish and vain, at first because he believes it's his birthright, and later as a defense against those who tell him it isn't. In personal relationships, he lacks the capacity for empathy even when he's doing his best to be kind. I want an icy, sharp, light scent for him, perhaps with a subtle touch of warmth or sweetness. Peculiarly, out of my small collection, Rose Cross reminds me the most of him. Something in it comes off as pure but cold to me, though I haven't heard anyone else say the same. I would adore any other suggestions!