alterosen

I love this! I really enjoy the scent of evergreens but haven't had much luck with them in perfume form. They seem to work much better on the husband than me or the piney top note fades too quickly. This one is strong, sweet & makes me happy! It reminds me quite a bit of the Schwartzwald Atmosphere spray, which I also love (and use year round).

I love the atmosphere sprays with lots of evergreen so I was hoping that this would be along the lines of Schwartzwald. But I really don't get that much pine from this - first there's a dark green note that I'm reading as vetiver, then some petrichor (wet pavement), stone & finally a really nice moss. There's maybe a whisper of evergreen if I search for it.

I actually do like this quite a bit - for me it evokes coming across a ruin hidden in the woods; the stone walls covered with ivy & moss, slightly melancholy & solemn. Perfect for a LOTR themed party or creating a mood while on-line adventuring.

It could possibly be Trick or Treat (the sticky sweet scent of candy corn, Weenies 2005, 2009). From what I remember it had some of the caramel that's present in The Inn but it's been a while since I smelled it.

I really like this in the beginning wet stage when the pink pepper is really strong & the florals play a more supportive role. As it dries though, either the gardenia or tuberose become really loud on my skin & it gets overwhelming. (I'm thinking tuberose because Ava also didn't appeal). I wish it was gingery orangey roses on me or even cookies on me but it was not to be.

You might like a Yule LE called La Befana (Candy charcoal, winter lilies, parma violet, a sprig of cypress, a poof of chimney dust, and holiday sweets). Despite all the listed notes, it's mostly berries & sweet violet on me.

Sweet clovey goodness! Not too spicy or buttery/pastry-ish - it's just right. I wish it was also an atmosphere! I'd love to have my house to smell this way without actually baking anything.

Pumpkin Spice Everything perfume (2014) was strong on the clove. Strangely, the atmosphere spray & hair gloss were not - I got more of a mix of spices from them. I really like the clove in Clemence & WIld Men of Jezirat, too.

You might also want to look for things with a carnation note - it's quite similar & might be softer. Here's the thread: http://www.bpal.org/topic/21410-carnations/

Off the top of my head from the GC, Alice has carnation, milk & honey with a little bit of rose. Morocco is also nice but might not be quite what you're looking for.

I tend to like things with a vanilla base when I want to feel mellow. Lately Dorian (no surprise - it's often my bedtime scent, too), Tattered Lace, Pere Noel, Aristocratic Couple have all been in heavy rotation with occasional forays into creamy rosiness with Sybil & Love. I like Champagne Lace, too, but the initial fizziness makes it less comforting.

Velvet & Sugar Skull are my cool weather comfort scents.

I'm with the reviewers above. This spray is a lot lighter & cleaner than I expected (but not in a lemon cleanser kind of way). I think I'm mostly getting the black tea & amber. I actually wish it was more citrusy but it is quite nice. A bit more sandalwood would have been welcome, too. My search for a sandalwood prominent atmosphere spray continues...

I've encountered two variations of Dorian perfume - one seems heavier on the vanilla & musk & one has a stronger fougere. I thought it was an aging thing but it appears that it could be a batch difference as well, since my last bottle of Dorian is from 2014 & still is extra strong on the citrus/lavender etc. after two years of aging. Good thing I love both versions!

Anyway, I've noticed the same differences in the Dorian Hair Gloss. I got a decant when it first came out & it has a really strong, almost floral fougere aspect when wet but then the vanilla musk comes out as it dries. I just got a bottle from someone on the forum & this one's all about the vanilla musk. Sure, there's tea & citrus here, too, but it really is vanilla musk dominant. Yum!

I love the blood orange aspect of this but am not too sure about the rest. Rather than the usual warm fuzz I'm expecting from the amber, I'm getting something kind of aquatic. Not the dryer sheets clean type of aquatic but more like the wood in the amber was actually driftwood & a little salty. Perhaps it's the tea/amber together - they've just gone to the seaside.

It's actually rather nice & the combination does smell like a deluxe pricey salon product. I'm just not sure it's me.

Lovely! Like Haltija, I'm finding this addictive - my nose keeps returning to my wrist. This is the best possible combination of warmth (pink pepper, sandalwood, vanilla) & freshness (tea, osmanthus). A must try if you like pink pepper - this is reminding me a little of what I liked best about the discontinued Hermia, without the amber.

This has turned out to be my favorite of this year's Lupercalia & now I'm bottle-hunting!

I hadn't realized I wear so many with strawberry! Love, Strawberry Sufganiyot & Golletes are all great, as well as L'Essence de L'Engouement (French vanilla, pink candies, strawberry sugar, and orange blossom).

I probably need to seek out some Sticky Eyeballs, too, since marshmallow is usually good on me.

All blueberry, all the time, with just the right amount of sweetness (& perhaps a tiny bit of vanilla) - I love this & must get more!

I seem to be amping different notes than most people who have reviewed this one. It starts out quite perfumey & red smelling - quite a bit like Red Lace, then it develops a grape or wine note & runs with it. If this is cognac, it's a very fruity one! After a while, that fades & I get a little spice & some brown sugar (lots & lots of brown sugar) but no pumpkin or sandalwood worth mentioning. Once dry, I get coffee for some reason & a hint of the Lace vanilla base buried underneath the sugar (now caramelized) & perhaps some booze. I can see the maple syrup comparison but it's more like a fancy coffee with liqueur on me.

Pleasant & foody but not at all what I was expecting from the notes! My husband says it smells like sexy Tia Maria

I love SawScaled Viper (Snake Oil with cinnamon, cassia, and red ginger)! It does start with a blast of spice but sweetens up quickly & the Snake Oil is present but not overwhelming. Many of the reviews describe it as quite dry & light on Snake Oil but it's perfect on me (possibly because I find SO too much of a good thing on its own).

I quite like Boomslang but am not much of a chocolate wearer. I remember liking Coral Snake, too, (Snake Oil with blood orange, red apple, lemon peel, plumeria, and gardenia) but gave away my decant.

Most of the resin- heavy Snake Pit blends seem too incensey to me or go powdery/cloying but that's because my skin chem doesn't play well with Snake Oil itself.

I'm hoping for some new Snake Pit offerings! Especially more things with fruit - I have a Snake Oil Chaos Theory with dark fruit including strawberries that is amazing & I like doing a layering combo of SO & Fae quite a bit (dabbing them on different wrists & smooshing together).

A couple from the Picnic in Arkham category: Miskatonic University (purely caramel on me) & Shub-Niggurath (very spicy gingersnaps).

From Wanderlust, Bengal (honey & cinnamon) is a must try, as is Morocco.

Bard is a nice honey & vanilla combo. Thieves' Rosin is also a good one.

You'd probably like Ivory Vulva (LE: Lupercalia, creamy coconut, marshmallow & cardamom)

The only one that's coming to mind that's maple syrupy is Herr Drosselmeyer (LE:Yule, notes are pipe smoke, sweet leather, woods & linen but it's sweet rather than smoky).

Half bottle of #173

The most perfect ginger spice cake! Lots of ginger, bit of burnt sugar & vanilla behind, no molasses thankfully. Delicious!

#191 (decant)

Strong citrus & pine - kind of orangey at first, then more pine, then something peppery, really peppery - I'm almost thinking chili rather than black. Possibly some resin under it all but I couldn't say what kind. It sounds chaotic alright but it actually works together well. It's not a pretty scent but it is very interesting - my nose keeps returning to my wrist!

This seems quite fruity to me - not what I was expecting, yet somehow familiar. I was thinking it would be stronger on the evergreens with the juniper but I'm getting more fruitiness with an icy/snowy feeling & something slightly herbal in the background. It's not as citrusy as expected either, despite the tea & citrus rind. I think I know what the fruitiness is reminding me of now - Juicy Fruit gum! Bizarre how my nose manages to take this combo of notes & interpret them as slightly banana-like. So it's like I'm chewing a piece of Juicy Fruit in the forest with a winter wind whipping around me. Nice but I was hoping for something a bit more foresty.

Beautiful red roses with a smidge of musky incense spice & then something a bit waxy sneaks in. It does actually make me picture yellowed glistening bones in flickering candlelight rather than dry clean white ones & creeps me out a little bit if I dwell on it. This is a brief phase & then it continues on being voluptuously rosy. Overall, a lovely rich rose atmosphere spray.

I get a warm pumpkin with light violet & moss. A good year round choice for me rather than autumn or cool weather. I find it very pretty & not at all menacing but YMMV

When it's hot, I like slightly fruity musky things:

 

Dorian

Lady Una

Autumn Moon of the Mirror Stand

Black Lace (appley version)

Tattered Lace

Red Lace

Cheshire Moon '08

Hunger Moon (fizzy sweet grapefruit - last year's surprise fave)

 

And Mme Moriarty if I'm going for the extra sultry after dark vibe.

 

The rest of the year I'm all about the spice

I'm going to be obnoxious & quote myself because I think it's amusing that nothing much has changed here from my list from a couple of years ago. Not going to drop any of these but I will add Aristocratic Couple & Parlement of Foules because they are also appealing right now. Joyful Moon should really be on there, too.

I going to dig out my imp of Kumiho for a test, too, because so many people are mentioning it.

I also made myself a Dorian room spray that I use as a body & clothing mist if I think I'm going to need some extra oomph during a hot day.

I'm going to throw some Lunacies in the mix that all have grapefruit in them in case that's what you like about Baobhan Sith: Hunger Moon, Hungry Ghost Moon & Cheshire Moon. They last pretty well on me, too.

I adore Hunger Moon especially! The notes only list citrus rind but it seems like grapefruit.

Nice light apples: Glittering Apple of the Stars & Rapunzel in Ballpoint.

Dorian & Tattered Lace are fantastic on me in hot weather. It's the tea with the vanilla & lemony mystery notes combo (the fougere in Dorian, something fresh in Tattered Lace).