angelslurry

The library is perhaps the nicest place I've ever worked, but it's presented a unique challenge to my personal perfuming. It's neat and clean, but to preserve the books it's naturally kept dry and stuffy, and with a constant influx of humanity every day, the air has a subtle but pervasive stale funk that is DEATH to many BPAL scents. Outside of work, I favor scents heavy on resins, grasses, aquatics, ginger and only a small amount of fruit like apple or peach. At work, notes like almond, amber, ambergris and leather seem particularly vulnerable to The Funk (Hades went, apropos, hellish); florals are hit and miss (Wolf's Heart holds up fairly well); the one that's faired the best is an ozone scent (Thunder Moon! I started keeping the bottle in my locker at work to reapply throughout the day, but I'm growing weary of it ). So I am wondering if anyone could suggest scents to sample that: a) have fairly work-safe names in case someone asks what I'm wearing (which one supervisor has done twice) are generally fresh and clean but not too sharp, because my beloved ginger often goes TOO sharp at work c) don't contain too many flowery or foody notes like jasmine, vanilla, cocoa or spice---I don't wear them much, and I'm not optimistic that they'd work in there anyway, since it's the sweet kind of notes that seem to go the wrongest. UnLESS someone can make a case for such scents working in similarly stale/stuffy environs. This will probably be an ongoing experiment, so the more suggestions the better!

Received an aged frimp about the same time as my last order in which I got a new frimp, so here's to both. New: Mild incense at first, no hint of ginger. Dries to something.... pretty nice, but... oh, uh oh, it's pushing the Play-doh envelope on me. Then that fades, and it's mostly powder incense. To the discard pile! Aged: This one's a bit more orange zest, maybe a leeeettle ginger. I like it more, but not enough for a whole bottle.

Frimp from the lab. Light sweet cherry candy, bordering on Sucrets but not quite that sickly. I think I can safely pass it on.

Frimp from the Lab with my last order (along with Vinland---probably had some extras from mixin' up those last minute batches). Hmmm. Somewhere tween spicy candy and cherry wine. Not too much with the wine part, and not noxiously sweet like some stuff amps on me. If I were to "disguise" myself by actually wearing sweet scents I could tolerate this, but I dunno if I'll wear it much. Oh, and of course DH likes it. Conflicted on swapping/selling now

A fiery Martial blend that embodies primal rage, lust for conquest, and all-encompassing desire. Dragon’s blood essence, heavy red musk, Indonesian patchouli and swarthy vetiver with a drop of cinnamon. Huh, I got this a week ago, tried it then, and just retried it now and it seems to have changed already. I haven't changed my diet or started my period, so who knows? First try: it pretty much smelled like Brimstone to me: gritty, smoky, gray. Maybe a little less like a forest fire, mostly just like black pepper. Now, though: still an overtone of pepper, but almost like smoked meat otherwise. Kinda makes me want salami. Okay, that's fading mostly, it's a bit sweeter but still a little bloody. Intriguing! I'm gonna see how much this changes as it ages.

Got a partial frimp along with my decant order from Megank4--it's got the bygone label on it so it's been aged at least a year or so. Obviously from the description it was gonna be a sweet scent and I don't typically do sweets, but I figured why not, it's just a small bit left anyway. Oooh, it IS yummy. It smells like a very expensive and exquisite chocolate truffle, richly chocolatey with like hazelnut liqueur wafting up from it. And by wafting I mean shooting up through the stratosphere---I put it on my knee to test and then rolled my jeans leg back down hoping to muffle it, but the throw is penetrating the fabric and still reaching my nose from over two feet away. Oh well, I'll just smell tasty the rest of the night!

Oh wow. WOW. I think I'm in love. Only the second Salon scent I've tried and I do believe I love it. It begins fresh and herbal on my arm, then warms and blooms into something incredibly lulling and alluring. I want to be patient and wait it out to see how it dries down and fades but I can't stop lifting my arm to sniff it every few seconds (geez this is taking forever to type! ) ...okay, okay, it's starting to show an edge of soap, I think I can quit with the mad sniffing tic. Okay, not completely, but at least I can start making sense of the notes--definitely picking out the citrus, and only the tiniest pinch of lavender, maybe some cedar. This was a decant bought on forum so I'm not sure of its age, but it's a nice stage whatever it is, so I think I might go for the bottle. Edit to editorialize: while I don't think it's "golden" enough to resemble the painting, it's actually quite fitting to David Sylvian's "Orpheus" on the album Secrets of the Beehive. Beautiful and haunting.

So nearly a year after joining the fray, I caved and ordered an Imp of the infamous Snake Oil! Frest out the vial and onto the wrist---it's mostly high and light, an almost spearmint aura. Ah, but then that reveals itself as sugar, and then a surprisingly unsweet vanilla, if that makes any sense at all. It's definitely pleasant, but it stays on that light hovering-just-above-the-skin plateau for hours, not changing much. Stoppering it up and trying again in a month, then another month or so to see what happens.

Hmm, first whiff registers as licorice. Doesn't smell like any one kind of black tea, but maybe the general aroma of a well-stocked tea cabinet. Okay, it's a bit creamier now--I'm not sure the dairy notes agree with me, based on my few encounters. Impressive, though, I think I'm getting a hint of butter--warm buttered scones, perhaps. Mmmm. The final drydown is linen, I think, another note I haven't tried much. It's a nice scent, but not really thrilling me. I'll see if it grows on me with further wear or aging. Meanwhile I totally want a pot of tea and some scones and jam and clotted cream. Where's that scone mix?...

After the two-by-four of lavender between the eyes that is Oneiroi, Clio packs a mere feather-fall. There's some brightening by orange and benzoin, can't really detect any parchment though. Still, I find it very appealing, and am debating buying a bottle before the Muses go offline with the rest. Think, brain, think! Decide, quick!

Another frimp receiver here (came in my last-minute order to hoard some of the Muse scents destined for the chopping block). First sniff, WOW! Thick, maple-y, syrupy sweetness, just rippling out in all directions. Eventually some spices emerge from underneath (nutmeg, clove, maybe ginger). Dayum, Beth. Yeah, if you love the sugary foodie scents, go for it, but it's too rich for my blood.

Yeah, I can't say I've noticed any of my coworkers wearing scent, but it never came up as a no-no during orientation, and when I wore Wolf's Heart to calm my first-day jitters my supervisor noticed and commented favorably on it, so it doesn't seem to be verboten unless it's an old long-forgotten and/or unobserved rule. I might ask my two other supervisors just to be sure. Our library probably wouldn't be so stuffy if it wasn't so claustrophobic---a few decades ago it was only one floor with a very high ceiling, then it was reconstructed into two floors with somewhat low ceilings. And all our shelves are metal and bracketed together between walls and posts, so there's not even a nice polished wood ambience like in other places.

I got Szepasszony in my last Imp pack, and you may be right---on me it starts out like fresh celery and ends up a bit herbal-sweet, which usually means soapy doom in the library (the top three scents gone bad reactions seem to be "soapy", "chalky", or "sour"--or than just plain "blech" ) but nothing lost in trying! Alas, already tried and swapped off Severin (too sour) and Sudha Segara (too milky). But I did just get Kumiho and I like it so far--putting it on to smell it right now, it might have what it takes to weather The Funk. I'm a little afraid to risk it though, because the last few scents that went bad at work I kind of stopped liking even though it wasn't their fault! What few scents I've tried that had citrus notes were hit and miss: Phantasm wasn't great, but Arcana was. I'm iffy about mint, too, but who knows, maybe the library will turn out to be the perfect environment for mint. Yikes, duly noted! I have not, in fact--I was debating the parchment note as something that would go nicely with the surroundings. Clio was definitely on my list, maybe I'll add Dee. It occurred to me belatedly that even though not specifically forbidden from doing so, working in an enclosed public space while wearing perfume could be potentially bothersome to patrons who might be chemically sensitive and whatnot. Then today I had to shelve around a guy who smelled like a fish market on a hot day, and figured I could worse than just wear enough BPAL to make my immediate personal space more pleasant to my own nose. Thanks for all the suggestions, I'll give some of them a try!

Clean and sharp, almost citrus but still ginger enough for my liking. I feel I should be wearing this with a crisp white tailored blouse and dazzling someone with a brilliant business idea over cups of white tea in an outdoor cafe on a mildly sunny day. It just has that compelling intellectual edge to it.

There is no font size large enough to express the initial throw of LAVENDER!!!!1111oneoneoneeleven It's like falling face first into a lush damp meadow with the stuff growing profusely everywhere. Mugwort is somewhere in there too, and maybe a bit of bergamot, but otherwise, see above. Funny, it doesn't work for me so much as an insomnia aid (but I'm the hardest person to put to sleep ever), but it's the first scent to really carry a strong memory for me: When I was about 10, my family once spent a week one summer on a small island off the coast of Maine, and some days I'd leave the rental house and run off into the woods until I was just out of sight, where I'd find these two huge trees that had fallen across each other, their root structures looming like the canopies above them, dark and damp and mossy. I'd crouch down among them and play my solitary little games of make-believe with the twigs and acorns, or just curl up in a relatively dry spot and listen to the sounds of the trees and birds. I don't recall smelling lavender around there or anything, but somehow Oneiroi just reminds me of then.

Aw man, I was really REALLY psyched about this one from reading the description, and overjoyed when a friend gifted me her decant. But this is actually the first time I've tried a pumpkin scent, and alas I don't think it's a note I can wear. First time I applied it was PASTRY SHOP LIEK WOAH, but I was having my period and a lot of scents go weird that time so I waited a week to try again. This time the vanilla packs far less a punch and the ginger and neroli are more present, but it spends far too long broadcasting like a pumpkin spice pillar candle, and by the time that starts to fade I actually have a bit of a headache. Far too strong for the husband's nose, too. CURSES!!!

Smooth, slinky leather, like a well-oiled high-heeled boot propped against your breastbone. HAWT.

Thanks, ivyandpeony! Looking over my purchase history you're right, vetiver's been a pretty reliable base note in everything I've tried, and leather as well, although I noticed as spring changed to summer, Iago started smelling a bit like fudge brownies on me (!). Then it spilled inside my leather purse, and whaddaya know, that's where it smelled best.

At some point, I will learn that some notes I should just avoid on principle, but I give most of them many chances to work in different blends. Foody and floral notes are the least agreeable for me (particularly JASMINE ARRGH) and while vanilla and rose are repeat offenders, they do show up in two of my top scents: Voodoo and Nemesis. Some quick comparisons: Vanilla behaved in: Voodoo, Desire, Crowley Vanilla overpowered: Dorian, Tamora, Eclipse Rose behaved in: Nemesis, Desire, Rapture Rose overpowered: Zombi, Ouija, Black Dahlia, Wicked Jasmine behaved in: The Caterpillar, Wilde, Rapture* Jasmine overpowered: Salome, Black Dahlia, Wicked Based on past experience, I really like grasses and resins, I used to like almond a lot (provided it wasn't bitter) but find ginger increasingly appealing. Woods and aquatics usually work, and spices are hit and miss. With all that in mind, I am trying to predict what future purchases will not go totally cloying on me, even if I give any of the notorious trio another shot. So feedback is appreciated on the following: Is vanilla overly foody or cloying in: White Rabbit? Snake Oil (which naturally I feel immense peer pressure to try, and I'm willing to let it age to its alleged best)? And for that matter, Australian Copperhead? Death Adder? Is rose overwhelming in: Wanda? Thanatos? Les Infortunes De La Vertu? Is jasmine absolutely unforgiveable in: Faiza The Black Mamba? Highwayman? Other scents I've been eyeing but I suspect may amp too sweet include Bastet, Blood, I Died For Beauty, Lady of Shalott, Nephilim, and Sed Non Satiata, so if anyone can weigh in on the sweetness meter for those, t'would be most appreciated. *My pet theory being that night-blooming jasmine is more mild-mannered than say star jasmine and/or pairing with bergamot seems to tamp down the powdery-pee fade-out.

Immediate throw? Fresh stalk of celery, snapped under the the nose. Quite unique! Then hints of herbs and spices (coriander? cardamom?) and a bit of sweetness (honeysuckle, perchance) drifting over a strong aquatic base. Very fresh, very pretty. Maybe a bit too sweet for my tastes, but the husband likes it (which is promising, because it's a lot less fruity/candy-like than the scents he usually likes on me) so I'll keep the Imp at least. Edit: After a few more applications, the sweetness is actually a little like maple syrup! So, fresh celery and maple syrup. And yet, still not too cloying, amazingly. Just rather like fresh sap drawn from the tree.

I'm pleasantly surprised. Most of my favorite BPAL scents are complex ones (i.e. a minimum of six notes, usually eight), and earth and wine weren't commonly among them (Zombi didn't thrill me, nor did Tintagel). But Nosferatu fascinates me: the wine note is like a shaft of light through a crimson panel in an old stained-glass church window, and the earth is dry and quiet, but subtly charged as if by a ley line or a lightning strike. And bonus, my husband likes it, which makes it merely the third out of 70+ scents I've tried so far that he actively praises!

I'm a bit nonplussed because I've been wearing this once every few weeks, and while it started out dark and incense-y as I usually like, with only a mildly powdery dry-down, with each wear the sandalwood seems to take over and go to (that dreaded!) baby powder sooner and sooner. No other scents I've worn lately seem to have changed so drastically, so I'm left wondering what in my skin chemistry is "getting used to" what note or note-pairing that's doing this.

I wanted to like this, it sounded really pure and comforting. Alas, it was not to be. It went on quietly silky and sweet, like incense smoke. But when the florals started to rise, it became oddly unsettling and I found myself unconsciously holding my breath a little, and had to go wash it off. I had a similar reaction to an overly-sweet note in Tzadikim Nistarim (spikenard, perhaps?). It didn't leave a rash or anything, so I don't think it's necessarily an allergy. I love myrrh and cypress, I have juniper incense which I burn occasionally, cajeput is another name for tea tree oil which I've used to treat a skin condition before, so violet or Lily of the Valley may be an issue for me. I'll have to seek out other blends with one of each to tell for sure.

In my brief time as a BPAL aficionado, jasmine and I have had constant tearful powder-scented encounters. Roses haven't been much more agreeable. Rapture has helped all their cases immensely, though. In the bottle, mostly rose and jasmine. On skin it warms and spreads like silk, allowing the musk and neroli to stretch and luxuriate. I can almost sense the jasmine straining to go powdery, but something is keeping it in check; I suspect it may be the bergamot, since the only other scent featuring jasmine that didn't go powdery on me (The Caterpillar) also contained bergamot. A lovely afterglow of a scent, overall. Not quite compelled to buy a whole bottle, but I'll keep the Imp as one of the few and far between floral blends I enjoy.

I bought Dior's Fahrenheit for my husband ages ago, and have been seeking a replacement by BPAL. The notes I've found listed for it online are: bergamot, honeysuckle, hawthorn, sandalwood, nutmeg, violet, cedar, patchouli and tonka bean. I know, a man's fragrance with honeysuckle, but taken as a whole it's gorgeous--I even wore it now and then to milder effect. Little help?