elbow

Wow. I just read this entire thread, and it's quite the saga. In the realm of Spreadsheets, the torch is passed from faithful updater to faithful updater; one falls, and another rises to take zir place. Meanwhile, over in Database country, rumors of downloadable DBs fade with the advent of web-based options. Wikis appear and vanish again, while Perfoom.com blooms, only to be overshadowed by (the inexplicably previously unmentioned) ScentBase. Perhaps the most promising contender emerges from bpal.org itself... but these apps meet their tragic demise in the Great Crash of 2014. Epic, right? And the saga continues; now there's mobile options, and who knows what next? I adore this kind of data geekery. I've spent countless hours tinkering with my own BPAL spreadsheet. You people are my people. And I just wanted to say: you rock.

I don't often recommend scents, but it seems to me there's a lot of overlap in our scent preferences. Hope some of those work for you. Post back here and let us know what you think, if you don't mind! Looking back over my notes, I had a similar experience with Kubla Khan. So many interesting things going on there, but I couldn't get past the ginger, lily, and jasmine. Of course, what makes it go bad on you might be something entirely different.

Forgive me if my suggestions are not femme-y (so hard to define!), or if you've already tried them. I looked at your Notes post and picked out some GC scents that are still available from the Lab, to make your search easier and slightly less expensive. Eden (fig leaf, fig fruit, honeyed almond milk, toasted coconut and sandalwood) Laudanum (Nutmeg, sassafras, black poppy and myrrh) Sudha Segara (Sweet milk and warm, healing ginger with a touch of golden honey and our blend of Ambrosia) Miskatonic University (Irish coffee, dusty tomes and polished oakwood halls) Desire (bittersweet neroli, black patchouli and black musk, gilded by apple, bergamot, blood red rose, teak, and vanilla) Bengal (skin musk with honey, peppers, clove, cinnamon bark and ginger) Aglaea (Three golden ambers, bright musk, peach wine and myrtle) Kumiho (A sharp, biting blend of crisp white tea and ginger) Oh, and do try Snake Oil and Black Phoenix if you haven't already!

Looking forward to your notes, false.azure! I've been trying BPALs on my male sweetheart, and though I've found many that I like on him, he doesn't care for them unless they fit his definition of manliness. Since everyone's idea of a manly scent differs, it's hard for me to know what to aim for. So far, the handful of ones he has really liked all have a leather note. Since you're amassing a non-leather list, I'm hoping your successes will help us branch out a little!

Amicitia is my new best friend. It is just such an endearing scent, sweet without being cloying or sappy: Ernest Shepard's Winnie the Pooh, not Walt Disney's Winnie the Pooh. It's so warmly well-rounded that I'm having trouble picking out notes... my wrist just smells like happiness. This would be a lovely perfume for a little girl, but it isn't at all childish.

This goes on as a really lovely rose, enveloped by a deliciously toasty scent I can't name -- a little cocoa-y, a little salty. I don't know my resins well enough to say if that's what this is, but I want to curl up in it... which brings to mind the photo of wee Lilith relaxed in Tom Blunt's arms. Aww. I don't know whether the mysterious warm toastiness is Tom or Lilith in this scent tableau, but it recedes into the background far sooner than I would like. In less than an hour I have trouble finding it, but the rose remains, serene and warm and sweet. If you're on the fence about buying a bottle from the Lab, Tom (a Tarot expert) is offering a free six-card reading with purchase: http://arcanalogue.tumblr.com/post/99977350530/hi-friends-i-recently-found-myself-on-the-label

Thanks for starting this thread, Aiobhan - I'm in the same boat, or a similar boat in the same millstream. I can't do jasmine or lilies, which are in so many floral scents that I tend to just avoid them altogether. Rose and lavender are hit and miss with me. I haven't tried most of the scents mentioned above, but I can vouch for Venice being "not so bad for a jasmine scent." I could definitely smell jasmine during the first phase, but it softened to a gentler fruity-floral after that. I gave it an "okay but didn't grab me" rating. Delight (Frangipani, with rose, tuberose, and jasmine) is a floral I like so much that I almost don't mind the jasmine... almost. If a floral works for me, it tends to have just one or two floral notes. Bathsheba (carnation, sensual plum, and Arabian musk) and Belle Epoque (Sweet opium, Lily of the Valley, vanilla, mandarin and red sandalwood) are both floral, but not overwhelmingly so. On a brief encounter, I thought Desire (bittersweet neroli, black patchouli and black musk, gilded by apple, bergamot, blood red rose, teak, and vanilla) was absolutely gorgeous. Glasgow (the rich scent of wild blackberry breezing over gentle rosy heather) is very restrained in its use of rose. The only floral I wear regularly right now is Kurukulla (a harmonious, sweet, enchanting blend of three lotus blooms and three roses). The loveliest floral I've ever sniffed is Gold Phoenix (three ambers representing common gold, astral gold, and elementary gold, with verbena, angelica, and heliotrope that has been purified by frankincense and Gum Arabic). But that's an LE from 2009, and I don't know how it's aged.

Thanks so much, Fuhrankie and Balame! I'll definitely be trying some of these suggestions.

Fun topic! Okay, my top 5 at the moment are... Coyote Delphi Laudanum Smiling Spider Stimulating Sassafrass Strengthener Anybody?

I'm really missing Delphi. I know it wasn't a popular one, but it was in my top 3 -- such a heartening waft of greenery and mead. I used to wear it on days when I had to lift a lot of heavy things. My scent notes say: "Makes me feel mighty." Is there anything in the current catalog that resembles it?

What a cool series of posts. I found them useful, and hope you continue these as time allows.

I took 4 small vials with me for my 5 months crewing a tall ship: Jabberwocky and Delphi for being brave and tough, and Coyote and Aglaea for being sexy and feminine. I never wore the second two -- there just weren't a lot of occasions where I wanted to feel girly. (I also never wore the one set of dress-up clothes I took.) I only wore scent on really hot days and on my days off, both to mask the smell of my own sweat (Delphi does this really well for me) and to add an extra "yay!" to my day. Both hot days and days off were few and far between, so I didn't go through a lot of oils.When we went to Tacoma, C. came down to the boat to visit, and she brought the BPAL samples she'd ordered. The only one she wasn't delighted with was Laudanum, which she described thus: "it reminds me of foul bandages (taken off a bloody cut after a week of being blood and water soaked)! and it has a moldy eucalyptus tinge. bleuck...!" So of course I was terribly curious about it. Turns out Laudanum smells great on me -- no blood or mold, just warm spicy goodness. Even C. admitted it was nice on my skin. She gave it to me, and it became the scent I wore most often on my days off.Here are our notes on a couple of other scents she let me try:Rose Cross: purest rose with sacred frankincense.C: the scent is like dried roses left on stone (a grave?)...not an overbearing rose smell but light and mossy. lovely!L: very rosy, perhaps a little too reminiscent of cheap incense sticksDesire: bittersweet neroli, black patchouli and black musk, gilded by apple, bergamot, blood red rose, teak, and vanilla.C: it is very woodsy but not pine...like ferns and bark and sunshine. yummy.L: absolutely gorgeous.Oh yeah, I also took my bottle of TKO aboard, for which I was glad many, many times. Sometimes a reassuring smell is just what a body needs to relax.When I settled in back at home, I opened up my BPAL box and basked in the smell. Now I leave it open all the time so I can catch a whiff as I pass by. I haven't bought anything new (yet), but I revisited some scents I've had for a while:Nephilim: I love how it starts out with a lot of fig and patchouli, very complex and delicious; but as that fades, the church-incense smell gets stronger until it's just... whoa. Nostril-jabbing. I think that's frankincense I'm smelling, in which case my take on Wise Man gifts is that myrrh smells awesome, frankincense stinks, and gold is shiny.Osun: I rated this as "not too bad" on first try-on, but it's not too good either. I think I only like it when it's really, really faint; the late-phase honey smell I liked on first test seems sickly-sweet in any significant quantity. To be fair, since I got the sample used, there's always a possibility that it may have been contaminated and that's not what it's supposed to smell like at all.Wrath: makes me feel like I could kick some ass, but I need to remember to go easy on the application -- this is a strong scent in more senses than one.

I'm about to go live on a boat until December, so my scentblog will be on hiatus until then. I'll miss the forums, and the internet in general, but I'll be working so hard and having so much fun that it probably won't get me down much. Besides, spending your days in the wind and your nights in a metal-hulled hold with a bunch of unwashed sailors has a way of (temporarily) dulling your sense of smell -- which is probably a good thing, in balance. So here's one final catchall summary of the oils I've tried lately: When I put it on, Wrath smells just like plumeria (a favorite flower to make leis with in Hawai`i). Then it gets kind of sweetly musky-spicy, in a badass kind of way. It has good throw and good staying power -- lasted all day and all night, and was still very recognizably present the next morning. If I were to guess the notes, I would have said plumeria and musk, but it only lists dragon's blood and spices (clove, cinnamon, pepper). If that's dragon's blood, I may have to reconsider my prohibition of it, because, yum. I thought Vice was supposed to be really chocolate-y, but on me that note faded into the background behind orange blossom and cherry. It was mildly sweet and not overwhelmingly foody. Melpomene smells like cheap perfumed soap, then fabric softener. No thank you. Kurukulla is sweetly rosy at first, then becomes something richer (but still rosy). I get a mysterious incensey note off of it, like in a Tibetan gift shop or something. This one could become a fave. I really thought I didn't like rose-scented stuff before I tried BPAL. Now I know I just don't like cheap rose-scented stuff. Osun smelled fairly stanky in the vial, but after it settled into my arm, it was pleasant and honey-sweet. Aizen-Myoo smelled like extremely bitter citrus for quite a while, but then that cleared up and left behind a clean smell which was nice at first, but then became too strong and fabric-softener-y. I wouldn't wear it again. I loved the idea of Depraved, but apricot turns out not to be a good note for me. At all. This helps to explain why Siren and I didn't get along, doesn't it? I thought Port-au-Prince was all right, but I forgot to write down why. Coyote remains a favorite. It's subtly elegant, and works for both formal and casual occasions. I do like Yew Trees. It's very green and sappy at first, and then it gets sweeter and vaguely coconutty -- reminds me of a shampoo I used to really like. Aglaea continues to be magical. I never expected this one to be a fave, so I'm delighted. I liked Crow Moon less last time I tried it. It was really hot that day, so the snow melted and the flowers bloomed right away, and it's the snow-and-cedars part that I like. The flowers make me sneezy. Boo to that. Veil somehow really does smell veiled. One smell behind another, but both are visible -- er, smellable. It's nice, though perhaps a little too floral for my taste. Yggdrasil was so-so. I'm disappointed that most of the tree scents I've tried aren't all that great on me (Hamadryad wasn't so hot either), because I really do love trees. Maybe I just wasn't meant to smell like one. All right, that's all I've got. I'll see you in December.

I sent C. a package of imps to thank her for her hospitality during the Folklife festival. She just e-mailed me about them, and I really enjoyed her scent descriptions: thank you thank you for the black phoenix scents!! i LOVE them!! except laudanum i have to admit that it reminds me of foul bandages (taken off a bloody cut after a week of being blood and water soaked)! and it has a moldy eucalyptus tinge. bleuck...! but here's my critique of the others (did you get a chance to test them out before you mailed them?) : florence: smells like honey and dark wine mixed with eastern spices. it's gorgeous! bewitched: swirls around me like heavy wild flowers after rain with splashes of dried herbs and dark, cavelike musk. LOVE it. i think this one likes me best. desire: it is very woodsy but not pine...like ferns and bark and sunshine. yummy. rose cross: the scent is like dried roses left on stone (a grave?)...not an overbearing rose smell but light and mossy. lovely!

"He appeared to live entirely on sweet tea, condensed milk, hand-rolled cigarettes...." I think that's what the roll-ups are.

Yesterday I tested Monster Bait: Tokyo Stomp. It smells like butterscotch in the vial, but on my skin it's a warm minty vanilla, like a pipe shop minus the tobacco. I kept sniffing for the tobacco. This one probably won't be a fave -- too sweet for everyday -- but it's funky and fun. And I just tried out the other LE I got from that order: Milk Moon. It's really grape-y at first, almost like fruit candy. But then it calms down and gets more figgy. Mm, I love me some fig. And just a hint of pomegranate. I can detect the honey, but the milk never makes an appearance on my skin. I like Milk Moon, but I don't like it as much as Eden (which also has fig and honey). Which is a relief, because I can get more Eden whenever I want, but Milk Moon is kind of a one-shot deal. So out of the three scents I ordered from the Milk Moon Update, my favorite is the last-minute impulse addition (Minotaur), not the two whose descriptions I drooled over most. Interesting....

I tested out Minotaur last night. It's a different kind of scent than I've tried before, heavy on the resins, which gives it an edged, dark, weighty kind of odor. On me it's very sweet, though most reviews don't seem to reflect this. I really like it. This morning all that's left of it is a hint of black musk, which I have just about sniffed right off of my arm. Other scents I've tried, but not mentioned, in the last few crazy weeks: Hesperides reminds me of sweet, dark apple cider. Definitely a winner. Yew Trees and Yggdrasil, both tree-themed scents, have not made a great impression on me. I wore them both on days when I didn't have a lot of time to pay attention to them, so I haven't given up on them yet, but I remember both as underwhelming and not entirely pleasant. Crow Moon - I admit I was hooked by the name; I really like crows, when they're not waking me at five in the morning. The description is very accurate: "This is the final Full Moon of winter. The call of the crow signals the end of the frost, and their scent, of vervain, black violet, white musk, and Chinese cedar, is brushed by the last cold wind of winter on their wings, and the scent of evergreen boughs touched by the season's final flowers and the first blossoms of spring...." So, okay, it starts out smelling like frost, light musk, and cedar, kind of a bracing scent, and then as it dries down, all of a sudden -- spring flowers. That's pretty freakin' amazing. I don't actually like the floral part very well, but I'm still totally impressed. Coyote is a sweet, light muskiness on me, not dark and heavy like the Minotaur, but the warm golden brown of a smaller, swifter critter. It's a lot like what I hoped The Lion would be. This makes two amber scents I really love (the other one's Aglaea), so I may have to retract my verdict that amber doesn't work for me. Yum. TKO is a profoundly comforting scent; it's sweet and warm and reassures me that everything's okay. It doesn't magically put me to sleep, or keep me asleep; instead, it soothes and calms me so that I can allow myself the sleep I need. I definitely wouldn't wear this in the daytime, as it kinda makes my brain shut down -- which is exactly what you want when you can't sleep. I adore it.

While visiting C, I gave her some of my unloved imps: Mag Mell, Frumious Bandersnatch, Kumiho. They all smell a little funky on me, but behaved themselves on her. I was going to give her Florence, too, but we dropped it on the floor of a public restroom (really, we both did; it was a botched hand-off) and even though it didn't all spill, I made her throw it away because, yuck, public restroom floor. But she liked that one as well. I'm going to order her a few secondhand imps as a thank-you for her hospitality, and Florence will be among them if possible. She gave back the Black Forest imp I gave her last year -- said she liked the concept but not the oil. Not much left in it, but I'm really glad to have it again. I only tried it once, and my impression of it was a darker, dirtier evergreen than Jabberwocky, with a lingering musk note (musk always lasts forever on me). I was unsure about the musk at the time. But I recently tried Coyote and decided that maybe I really like musk. Because I sure do like Coyote.

Don't know where you are, but I saw Apocalyptica in Portland, Oregon a couple years ago. That's not northeast by any stretch of the imagination.

Friday, May 25th was kind of a manic day to begin with. I was going to leave for the Folklife festival in Seattle that evening, and I wasn't packed yet, and I had a dozen things to do first, and I really should have spent more time at work that day. But I had doublechecked and the Convergence vendors' hall WAS open to the public, starting about noon on Friday, and by golly I was gonna go or my future self would never forgive me for missing the one time BPAL comes to visit my town. As I walked down to the hotel that was hosting the convention, I could tell I was getting close by the increasing number of goth-types on the street. It was in the Hilton, and the swanky lobby contained a number of people dressed in black, standing around talking quietly with luggage beside them. I played it cool, strolled on in as though I had any clue what was going on... found a staircase, wandered down, followed signs to a ballroom, and bingo: Vendors' Hall. I don't normally do this kind of thing, wander into someone else's party without even trying to blend in, so at this point I was buzzed on a blend of mad glee and mild terror. Not many customers in the Vendors' Hall yet, I noted (still trying to act casual), but it was lined with booths selling fancy black clothing, stripey socks, skull jewelry and other gothy paraphernalia. And then I saw it. The BPAL booth. (There are some photos of it near the end of this post.) I went straight over and gaped at the rows and rows of bottles. They were arranged in alphabetical order and I started getting dizzy just looking at them. So many to choose from! And I've never bought a bottle before. How can I pick just one or two based on a momentary sniff? Do I buy something I already know and love (and have an imp of), or go for something entirely new? I recall that there were some blends mixed up exclusively for this event. The last rack isn't alphabetical and seems to be made up of the more expensive, limited edition stuff, so I go over to that end to look for them. There's a guy standing in front of it, making small talk with the girl on the other side of the table. He's asking about the Convergence exclusive blends, and she points them out to him. So I sidle up to sniff them and then test them on my arms. Well, two of them. The third one is a white floral, which I'm not interested in. It's called Lydia and is named after a local ghost (I've never heard of her). The other two are Shanghai Tunnel and The Unheavenly City. So we've got a "Portland's Seedy History" theme going on here. Nice. Shanghai Tunnel is really bitter and murky, and Unheavenly City is complicated but definitely has some coffee in it, which is cool. (Later on it turned extremely jasmine, though, which is not cool.) So I'm sniffing and sniffing and deciding I don't really want either of these, despite their rarity and resale value, when the chatty guy leaves and the girl starts talking to me. She's wearing a red dress that matches the color of her dreadlocked hair, and she's really friendly and funny, and after we've talked for a couple minutes she sticks out her hand and says, "I'm Beth." And my head explodes. So that's how I got to have a conversation with the nose and creative genius behind BPAL. After her attention turned to some other customers and friends, I went back to scanning the labels and trying to decide what to buy. And sniffing. Lots of sniffing. I noticed that many of the oils seemed to share a sort of bitter edge to them that I didn't like. Hours later, I realized what I was smelling was the Shanghai Tunnel I had foolishly dabbed on my left wrist, just below my bottle-sniffing hand. Oh, duh. Seeing that it was taking me 5000 years to decide, Beth asked what my favorite scents were so she could recommend some to me. I told her I love Jabberwocky most, and Delphi second-most, and she looked puzzled: "Seriously? Nobody says that. I mean, I like Jabberwocky, but it's just not that popular." I was sort of stunned by this, and someone else demanded her attention just then, so I never got to find out what scents she would have recommmended based on those two, or why it seemed so strange that those were my favorites. Eventually I decided on Snake Oil, because it will age well, and given the amount I typically apply, a bottle of anything will last me the rest of my life. I also bought one of the aromatherapy (Panacea) blends called TKO that's supposed to help you sleep. I've had insomnia lately, but even as hyped up as I was right then, when I opened that bottle it was like a big Hand of Calm reached out of it and went "sshhhh." Panacea oils are pricey at $25 a bottle, but I figured if I got even 25 nights of sleep out of it, it would be a great investment. And that bottle contains a heck of a lot more than 25 doses. So I gave them my money and took my bag o'fumes and went off to run some other errands, leaving the bag in the car. I didn't look into it because it had a cute BPAL sticker sealing it shut, and also I was in a hurry and had a lot of other things on my mind. It did occur to me, as I was congratulating myself on getting BPAL products with no shipping charges, that one down side of not getting your oils through the mail was that you don't get the bonus imps, which is one of the funnest parts of buying BPAL. (The Lab people had notified us in advance that there would be no imps for sale at the booth because "they cause havoc on the plane.") Still, I was very happy with my purchase, and ecstatic about the whole experience. So I'm racing against the clock to get a bunch of things done, and I finally get home and bring my goodies inside. The bag has started to emit a pretty strong odor, and I'm afraid my bottle of TKO is leaking because that sure as heck doesn't smell like Snake Oil. But I'm distracted from this because the Tea Swap box has arrived and is sitting on my doorstep! If you haven't heard about the Tea Swap, the box arrives filled with different kinds of tea, and you take out as much as you like and put something different back in, and send it on to the next person. So here it is, just in time to take to Folklife with me and share with my host C. I'm really, really excited about the box of tea, but I set it aside to open once I get to C's. I finally look in the BPAL bag, and discover THERE ARE FOUR IMPS IN THERE WITH MY BOTTLES. (One of the imps had leaked a little, which accounted for the smell.) Then, and only then, did I start running around in circles going EEEEEEEE!!!

Last night before I went to bed, I dabbed a little Saint-Germain on my left wrist and a little Theodosius the Legerdemain on my right. I thought it would be interesting to compare the two most masculine scents in my possession, especially because they're both named after magicians. As it turned out, I had insomnia (too much caffeine and popcorn!), and so I had plenty of time to consider both. Saint-Germain has a really strong personality. He's used to getting his way, and doesn't much care how that affects other people. He's outspoken and impossible to ignore. This is the smell of a powerful man, probably physically and definitely intellectually. He's arrogant, though admittedly not without good reason. I admire but don't really like him. Theodosius is quieter and more introverted. Where Saint-Germain has power, Theo has subtlety. He's got a flair for the dramatic, because legerdemain (sleight of hand) relies on misdirection and distraction, but you never know what he's really up to until it's too late. He's much smoother than S-G, more polite and pleasant to be around. But you can't trust him. As for the scents themselves: I actually like S-G at first, but as it dries down, the lavender note just gets louder and louder and LOUDER. Theo is much easier to live with; his scent may have a little lavender in it too (I'm still not clear on this whole "fougere" thing), but the most prominent notes on me are vanilla and white musk, which combine to smell a bit like sweet pipe smoke. I like that, but there is something about Theo that I just don't like, something I can't put my finger on. It's probably just my chemistry clashing with his... anyway, I won't be keeping company with either of these gentlemen in the future. I'd still like to test both scents on a guy, if I can get one to hold still long enough. I. seems like he'd be a good guinea pig, aside from his total lack of a sense of smell. Aaand today, in the mail, I received another package of imps... from Finland! Amazingly, it got here in less than a week. I tried one of them (Yew Trees) this morning, but my shirt smells like the random imps that I left sitting on it, and my jacket smells like Green Tree Viper, so I can't actually tell what it smells like. Written 5/21/07.

So I wore my last untried scent, Florence, to work on Thursday. It went on pretty nice, lightly sweet, almost the way a marshmallow smells. But as it dried down, it began to smell distinctly granny-ish. I felt self-conscious about how granny-ish I smelled. The throw was like department store perfume. I might try it once more, but I'm thinking it's definitely not for me. I'm quickly coming to the conclusion that most amber scents are not for me (though I still love Aglaea). I don't like the fuzzy way amber hits my nose when it's on my skin. Florence is described as containing "velvety spices," but I think it's the amber note that gives it the really fuzzy/velvety texture, and I don't like it. Ironically, I do like fuzzy/velvety textiles. Just not odors. Friday I wore Kumiho again. This was the ginger/white tea scent that I said smelled like something you'd find in a mall shop. Not a crappy mall shop, I want to add; maybe Bath & Body Works or GAP or something. Anyway, I've concluded that I don't really like Kumiho, and that maybe I'm just not into scents that are heavy on the ginger. Small amounts, like in Bengal and The Apothecary, are fine. But scents that rely on it as a major note are just so sharp, so spiky in my nose, that they're not fun for me to wear. Again, this is ironic because ginger is one of my very favorite things to eat. So that probably sounds like I'm complaining, but actually I'm thrilled (thrilled!) to have learned to identify these two notes, amber and ginger, and what they do on my skin. It's like learning the landmarks in a new town. The more you know.... And then Friday night I went to a party, and wore Green Tree Viper again. And this time I really liked it. It didn't smell like Mom's perfume at all. It's still not a smell I'm 100% comfortable with; it's sensual in ways that I'm not. But it's a good smell, and it's happy on my skin, and I look forward to wearing it again. I think maybe another factor in how I perceive scents (especially new scents) is how I'm feeling when I wear them; if I'm relaxed and enjoying myself, I'm usually enjoying my perfume too. If I'm tense and worried, my scent can get all tangled up with my discomfort so that I confuse the two a little. And maybe my chemistry actually alters the perfume to some degree based on how I'm feeling? Anyway, that's how I explain the difference between my experience with the Viper at the work-related banquet, and at the party the other night. I realize that my favorite non-BPAL scent, a Tenzing Momo oil labeled "Pomegranate" that C. gave me a few years ago, is one I save for occasions when I know I'm going to have a good time. I always felt like it was too special to wear when I wasn't pretty sure I'd enjoy myself. And now I think that was a really good instinct, because I always associate it with feeling happy and sexy and having fun. I finally gave E. her BPAL birthday present yesterday: R'lyeh for creatures of the deep, Calico Jack for pirateyness, and Miskatonic University for mad scientists (all three things she loves). I included the descriptions on little slips of paper, so she'd know what they were meant to be. She sniffed them and said appreciative things about all of them. When she opened the box and said "Oooh," her wife asked what it was, and E. said gleefully, "It's perfumes for evil people!" She had already heard of BPAL, and said she'd been wanting to try their stuff. So of course I was happy to have provided her with the opportunity!

I second the observation (made a page or two back) that Morocco smells like Shalimar. Really, uncannily similar, on me at least.

So I tried Saint-Germain last night. It's sharp lavender backed with mellow amber (and carnation and moss, which I can't really pick out). It's a really good blend, but I think I'd like it much better on someone else. Specifically, someone male. It's kind of edgy for me, kind of aggressive, and I just can't get comfortable with it on myself. Too intense and attention-demanding. I wonder how much of that is me associating it with other scents I've smelled on guys, and how much of it is the scent really not being a good fit for me. That reminds me, a cute guy sat down next to me on the bus the other morning, and I caught just the faintest whiff of his aftershave, and it was so yummy. I kept trying to inhale more of it without being conspicuous, and trying to pick out notes, and wondering if I would have liked it as well if it had been on someone I wasn't attracted to. I might not even have noticed it before I started this whole nose self-education program. I've been a lot more tuned in to smells lately.

I haven't been wearing much scent lately. I've been pretty sleep-deprived, and when that happens my nose gets extra-sensitive and I don't really want unnecessary odors around. I am getting more rest now, though. I still have two untried scents and several that I want to give a second chance, so I'd better get on that. I did wear a little scent under my arms yesterday and today to counteract expected sweatiness. Yesterday I rode my bike to work (for the first time!) and wore Jabberwocky. (Jabberwocky = Adventure!) Today I had to move a bajillion books around and wore Delphi. When I put it on this morning, I was struck by how potently green it is straight out of the vial, punch-you-in-the-nose green; it would be too much if it stayed that way. But the drydown is so sweet and mellow. ALSO. I got annoyed with my shot glasses as imp containers, so I read a sizeable chunk of the mammoth "How do you store your oils?" thread. Then I found a spare wooden box w/lid (about the size of a cigar box), filled it an inch deep with short grain rice, and stuck the imps in upright. It's not very portable, but I'm pleased with it -- the labels aren't getting bent, I can read them easily, and there's no leakage issues. Plus, it looks (and smells) cool. I would post photos if I had a digital camera. I need a digital camera.