roseus

On me this stays pretty much the same the whole way through. Smooth myrrh and a pleasant metal tang, with a hint of sweet tobacco. Very mellow.

This warm and spicy scent is a nice counterpart to Bast. It's softer and fuzzier, but quite similar. It also reminds me a great deal of Aelian's Phoenix without the cocoa. It must be the cedar, which is light and fairly smooth for cedar. I don't know if it is the combination of musk and cedar but I am getting a soft fuzziness I often associate with sandalwood. I wouldn't call it powdery but sweet and fuzzy. I get a similar vibe from the sandalwood in Mouse's Long and Sad Tale.

I love this! Cool, refreshing lightly sweet water and a light mineral aspect. There does seem to be a touch of linen or something. A beautiful gentle aquatic.

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Starts off as a generic soap. As it dries this is mostly a soft patchouli and nag champa scent with a nice light soapyness lingering behind. Interesting but not quite bottle worthy for me.

In the imp: medicinal and sharp

 

Wet: herbal and lemony

 

Dry: Similar but it gets sharp and herbal again. I think the sharpness is coming from cedar. Not for me!

Almond and cinnamon, but not cherryish at all. I kind of like it but it's not really my thing. Will have to try it on around my guy, for science!

One of the nicer strawberries on me! I get some nice grass and sap, with a heavy dose of vanilla sugar. The strawberries sit on the line between tart and fresh and candy-like. So summery!

Ashy cigarettes and sweet incense. More pleasant than it sounds but not my thing.

This is ambergris upfront for me made light and buoyant by sheer vanilla and light florals. I think the flowers give it a cool, clean vibe. But there is also a light skin-warmth from the ambergris and amber. Utterly divine and just what I hoped for!

Beautiful rich myrrh and amber, thick and golden. Sweetened by vanilla and honey, and the cardamom is on the light side and gives an arid/dry aspect to the blend. There seems to be just a breath of cacao giving it a deep and snuggly or comforting feeling. I would put it in the same family as Morocco (dry, spicy, resinous vanilla) but it's quite different. I am in love! It's rich but the the throw is fairly low. Definitely sensual and sly. So perfect!

Okay I do not have much experience with metal notes, which is probably the reason my nose is utterly confused by this scent. At first I get a nice bitter grapefruit that I quite enjoy but there is something else. My nose wants to say it's like cinnamon sugar? It reminds me vaguely of baking. It's not powdery, it's not musky, it's just something dark and weird I can't describe. It doesn't smell like iron or copper, but I suppose it does have that metallic tang but it's very dulled. Overall dry: vague metallic tang and a little bit of bitter grapefruit peel. The grapefruit is wonderful but I'm not sure this dark metal is my thing!

This starts off as a sugared pink rose, slightly fruity and very candy like. Dry it gets a little more sophisticated, the honey really smooths it out and gives it a bit of depth. The rose dry is beautiful but overall it might be a touch too candy-sweet for me.

Some other dark florals:

GC:

Mata Hari (one of my favorites) five roses with soft jasmine, warmed by vanilla, fig, tonka bean and mahogany, spiced with a drop of coffee bean.

 

I haven't tried it but Lulu has geranium: tobacco flower, white gardenia, bergamot, and bourbon geranium.

 

Lots of people describe Sacred Whore of Babylon as a dark musky floral

 

 

Some dark LEs I love:

Importune Me No More (from this past round of Lupers) Red roses, red carnation, and grandiflorum jasmine grounded by regal amber and sweet, dark patchouli.

 

Mare Vaporum (past lunacy) white sandalwood, smoky oudh, golden amber, bourbon vanilla, and black jasmine

 

The Head (2016 Lupers) Tuberose absolute, red carnation, white gardenia, jasmine sambac, Siamese benzoin, and sweet oudh.

 

Okay I have discovered my guy LOVES Antique Lace (join the club bud) and he wanted to slather himself in it and diffuse it so I had to explain that it is very precious. I gave him an imp of The Lights of Men's Lives as a non-foody vanilla alternative and he really liked it and I am wondering if there are other ones that you guys would recommend? Masculine leaning would be interesting but I honestly don't think it matters to him as long as it isn't a super-sugar-floral explosion.

 

has he tried Dorian?

I thought of that one (when will it come back in stock??) Would Theodosius be similar enough? I have a hard time distinguishing foody vs. nonfoody in descriptions

Okay I have discovered my guy LOVES Antique Lace (join the club bud) and he wanted to slather himself in it and diffuse it so I had to explain that it is very precious. I gave him an imp of The Lights of Men's Lives as a non-foody vanilla alternative and he really liked it and I am wondering if there are other ones that you guys would recommend? Masculine leaning would be interesting but I honestly don't think it matters to him as long as it isn't a super-sugar-floral explosion.

In the imp and wet the leather was too strong and sharp for me. Dry it is much softer and smoother, complemented beautifully by vanilla and patchouli. I get hints of almond that threatens to go cherry, but luckily not too often. I get just the vaguest headiness of jasmine, wish it was stronger! Overall a really nice blend, but I don't think my skin chem is doing this justice.

In the imp: gritty patchouli, amber, coconut, and... cocoa powder?

 

Wet: cocoa and patchouli....

 

Dry: Phases in and out of a pleasant dark, spicy patchouli-coconut thing and sweaty armpit. Will try again later but this might be a bust.

I don't get much rose unfortunately. On me this is a soft iris powder, pleasantly old-fashioned. Not my thing but one of the most agreeable iris scents on my skin!

In the bottle: very sweet myrrh, amber, and lavender.

 

Wet: roses and lavender, with rich warm amber and myrrh. I'm getting the same effect with the rose as VioletChaos, not dried but not fresh and dewy either.

 

Dry: Similar to wet but the sandalwood and cassia dry this blend out and make it soft and memory-like. The lavender is sweet, like TKO (without the marshmallow aspect) which I prefer to sharp herbal lavender. There is definitely a dried out/heat element without being spicy. It reminds me of sitting in a sun-baked meadow as the sunsets.

An absolutely lovely warm vanilla musk with some gauzy linen. Absolutely intoxicating! I get it now.

Not sure what year this decant is, but it is Snow White with a bit of pink rose. Lovely, but I was expecting something a little rosier!

Didn't think I was going to like this one, but it's actually pretty nice. Very glamorous and fresh, and probably the most mainstream-smelling BPAL I've sniffed but there is something still very BPAL about it. I'm having the same difficulty as girlryan where this smells very familiar but I can't put my finger on it. I want to say it smells like Michael Kors, but maybe because that's the only commercial perfume I've really smelled recently as it is the scent my mother wears. And maybe because it smells ever-so-slightly beachy/tropical to me? There might be gardenia or another white floral in here.

In the imp: crisp bright apple

 

Wet: spicy apple, with a green leafy-ness and honey

 

Dry: Very well blended. Warm honeyed apple muskiness with a faint rosiness and spice. Myrrh is probably grounding it and giving it depth. This is the first scent my guy has actively shown interest in and I love it as well. The almond didn't go cherry on me in this one, but it isn't pulling the blend into baked goods territory either. My only regret is not trying this one sooner!

In the imp: sweet jasmine (not very heady to me) and honeysuckle with creamy milk underneath. There is also something bright and almost sparkling to me, like crisp white tea or something.

 

Wet: Similar to in the imp, but with a light sweet musk. Overall pretty sweet.

 

Dry: creamy base with light musk, smell a sweet and almost a little clean. Reminds me of a less sweet Neutral or sweeter white musk. The jasmine and honeysuckle are very soft. An utterly feminine, springtime perfection scent.

In the imp: soft warm floral and dry spice. In the family of Morocco, but more floral and less vanilla.

 

Wet: Carnation, a touch of jasmine, and maybe dry rose. It could be the spices that make this so dry. But's not in a bad way at all.

 

Dry: Pretty much the same as wet. The spices are hot and arid and give the flowers a more sultry feeling. On me the scent is fairly strong, but the throw isn't very far. It's condensed in a nice little cloud around me.