lilacea

Does anyone have any GC suggestions for Riding the Goat? I've fallen in love with the tobacco and the resinous, polished amber feel this has. The Antikythera Mechanism has a somewhat similar 'feel', but I think it's the amber that I love so much in Riding the Goat, and I'm just not sure where else you could find this gorgeous amber.

Wet, this is JASMINE, ZOMG, FREAKIN' JASMINE! (yup, the jasmine is shouting, that loud mouthed flower that it is). It does calm down a little, but this blend does stay pretty yellow. The lemongrass is next to show its head, keeping that yellow feel. There's a touch of powdery rose here too. I can't tell you what the dry down is like because I had to wash this off, the jasmine was just waaaaay too bad on me.

Although the notes don't really line up that well, Jade makes me think of The Phoenix in its overall feel.

Very soft and pretty for such a manly sounding scent. Softest white musk, kinda like a China musk, very soft leather and slightly sour tobacco. Powdery and close to the skin. I'm getting touches of something almost lilac, very faintly behind the tobacco.

On me this is all pine, all the time. It's a lovely sweeter, softer pine. I can barely detect the ecalyptus, but it gives it just a touch of a more medicinal feel. As far as orange, I'm not smelling any here, but I do think it adds to the light, bouyant quality that this has. Fresh, light and bright sums up this blend pretty well.

Were all all my woods? This is like candy, light, sweet and clean. This is actually quite aquatic smelling, with soft light florals in there. Clean, soapy and nothing that makes me think of the headiness that is pine (alright, pine is pretty clean smelling, but usually has a bit more oomph than this). There's that distintive linen note here also. The cypress is there on the dry down, but I have to stick my nose right up to my wrist and sniff really hard to find it amongst all this soapy clean that has developed.

For all the dark notes listed, this comes out quite perfume-y on my skin. There's lots of tobacco here, and the woody notes have a soft sweetness, but not as dry as I had hoped they would be. High pitched and sharp to start with (the tobacco really amps on me), the vanilla peers out a little in the dry down, then.... bam, oakmoss. Rounds it out to a soft golden brown sort of smell. I think aging might do this oil a little more justice and help to soften up the tobacco a bit.

In the bottle this is super sweet, so sweet I was almost afraid to try it on my skin. On my skin? I was hoping vanilla orchid meant this would be vanilla flower, but it seems that it is vanilla and orchid, that heavy, sweet BPAL orchid note. With vanilla. The ginger is not really present until the dry down is well under way, and it's soft floral ginger, like there is a pale floral in there with it stomping out all the spicey that ginger normally has. There's some light musk in the dry down too. For a sweet scent, it really does calm down considerably and become quite soft.

Wet, this is sock you in the face pine cleaner; high pitched and very camphourous, As it begins to dry, the birch sneaks it head in, adding a scent not unlike snapped twigs. I sweetens up a little, don't know what is causing this, but I suspect it might be the grass. The dry down on this is lovely though, all those green elements subside, and there's this subtle cedar, oakmoss and a touch of warm pale musk. Very subtle at this stage, very skin hugging.

I think it is sounding like my best bet is just to skip the 'fumes when I'm around the cats there, and take in the glorious scent that is natural me. Thank you all for your advice though!

Amber, rose and cake. Quite perfumey, the amber starts of deliciously warm, then it is overtaken by the rose, which turns quite soapy floral on my skin. The cakey note is smothered by the rose eventually, and then I get touches of something sandalwood like. There are some resins there, but buggered if I know what they are (there might be copal). Mostly this is a perfumey rose on my skin. It smells like granny's birthday party, all floral perfume and cake. Edit to add there are touches of pomegranate coming out now.

Rosewood and perming solution. Yup, it's perming solution that I smell. Slightly powdery and soapy, perfumey, and heavy on the rosewood. It's kind of an odd blend. Slightly woody undertones.

This is amber heaven! Rich, resinous, piqued with stunning frankincense and dry woods. It is lacking a little that super sweet note most of BPAL's incense blends seem to have on me, but there's a soft sweetness nonetheless. It's a little powdery on the dry down. There may be some lemon in this (or it's the frankincense amping) and there's possibly a touch of beeswax. Deep and sexy, but lifted. Edited to add that the tabacco rears it's head in the dry down, and the faintest ever hint of leather is present.

Sniffing this in the vial, it's gorgeous sweetened amber. Initially on my skin it's much the same, but then the cream notes start to emerge and go a bit sour. Not totally sour, just a bit off, kind of high pitched and sickly, and a tad soapy. The other notes are quite grounding (apart from the lotus, which is still very sweet at this point), and keep it from going to an all piercing sourness, but they take their time beating down that cream. The dry down is nice, a more orangey amber and warm wood, the lotus sweetness has subsided just a little, and the cream notes are a little better behaved. If those cream notes behave a little better, I might have felt very differently about this.

Starting off on my skin, it's cherry cola, effervescent and pretty bright, there's amber there for sure, and the patchouli is well behaved. The dry down starts to incorporate a touch of resinousness, but it slips into a pinkish sort of musk with a deep amber background. There's a little bit of a woody element, but this is really quite sweet on me! It reminds me of the musk note in Juke Joint. Overall, I was expecting this deep, dark scent (and it does have elements of that), but it has actually turned pretty girly on me. Skin Chemistry is a wacky thing!

Oh wow, I see what all the fuss is about now! This is divine. It starts sweet and warm , slightly caramel like, the cinamon is really subdued. Normally I'm not a big cinnamon fan, but this just adds a little interest, kind of like adding a pinch of salt to sweet foods, it adds just the teensiest touch of warth. The tobacco is really restrained, and I'm not picking up tonnes of the coffee. But it is warm, full bodied, smooooooooooth and suprisingly light. Couldn't even guess at what the woods might be, but it is beautifully grounded. This ends up smelling like a scrummy cup of Vienna coffee. ETA: The more I smell this, the more I begin to think it has cognac in it, which may account for the smooth, intoxicating sense I get from it. I am putting all of my thoughts and wishes into this being a 2009 ressurected, because it is criminal that this is not enjoyed by everyone.

Wet, this is fir, musk and soft fruitiness. Dry, the fir mellows not too much (it really is ever present) with a touch of herbiness, and a breath of skin musk. This is very piney, with something warm and just a teensy touch smokey. OK, now that my nose has woken up a bit, I'm getting some very soft florals here too (very similar to the floral element in Zephyr).

On me, this is mostly soil and deep perfume. The soil note is fairly present, it's uber mossy, almost like potting soil kind of smell. This is tempered a little by the rich orchid, which sweetens the whole thing up and makes it a little less confronting. The teak is very close to the skin, I'm having to stick my nose right up to my wrist to huff it. In fact the whole blend is very close to the skin. The dry down is quite wodsy. Smells like I've been working all day in the garden (minus the sweat).

White sweet grape and figgy, honeyed cake. The frankincense lends a slightly lemony feel to the whole thing, the myrrh is barely there, perhaps just making this a touch grounded. Slightly powdery, yet warm. Foody and perfumey at the same time.

Sweet tea, but mostly wet tobacco in the vial. There's mossy green dark element too. A rotting smell is hiding away there. Unfortunately the milk note goes super soapy and sour on my skin. The tabacco stays around, yet the tea isn't as prominant once it dries. There is an element of something watery and slightly sweet there, but I'm having trouble picking out exactly what it is. It is kind of cactus-y.

This was just super sweet incense and sour opium on me. No dust, no smokeyness, just high pitched sweet and sour. The tobacco kinda gave it a sickly edge.

This is sexed up Dorian. Not as sweet as Dorian, with just a teensy weeny touch of floral (just enough to lift it out of the doldrums), gorgeous white musk and something that reminds me of leather. The vanilla is understated and lovely. This would be lovely on a guy or a girl. I also find Theodosius remarkably comforting, the smell reminds me of a hospital with all that tea and musk. But not in a bad way! It's a fresh, clean, comforting smell.

I'm surprised I haven't reviewed this given that this was my very first BPAL love. The lemon and verbena are very understated in this, they lend to the blend, but it isn't dominating lemon like Embalming Fluid or knock you in the face verbena. They add just a touch of lift to gorgeous buttery musk, the florals and the vanilla. The vanilla is very understated in this, just lending a touch of warmth to a coolish blend. The white florals are pretty, there's definitely jasmine here (and before you freak out and go "OMG jasmine" , I must add that it is subtle, almost like the jasmine in Theodosius, not dominant at all, just a nice group player). This dries down to a soft, slightly powdery buttery yellow musk. It's a light scent, but aging this gives it a bit more omph as the florals, sandal and musk amp up. I have to apply this very sparingly to wear, otherwise it can be a bit overwhelming.

My poor little nose confused the benzoin for tonka in this at first. The black opium is nice, makes a change from that very red smelling sweet opium that I'm used to in BPAL perfumes. Black orchid, don't have any idea what that is supossed to smell like, but this isn't a heady floral like orchid usually is. Mainly this is soapy benzoin, resinous, dark, incensy and warm.

This is lovely. Sandalwood and cedar initially, as it warms on the skin the tobacco blooms. There's a sweet almost creamy element at this point and a teensy touch of spice (anise, maybe?). The leather is soft and there are touches of papyrus on the dry down. This is a skin hugger, very low throw and light. Here's hoping the sweet element will behave itself on my skin and not amp like crazy in a few minutes. Edit: ok, the sweetness has behaved itself quite well, after wearing this all day it's still a lovely warm musky scent.