ivyandpeony

Thanks for posting these. I love the labels for the tiki scents. LOVE THEM! I would almost buy them just for that. I'm a sucker for packaging. Ditto on the thanks... and on the tiki love. Looking at that display has me wanting to run out and buy all manner of tropical juices and boozes to start mixing up!

do I smell a new member title? Now you all have me wanting to hunt down some Daphne plants for my yard. Although technically I am trying to make it not my yard (we have our house on the market) so I shouldn't be spending money at this point to do too much landscaping.

Nothing comes up in the search engine for me - does daphne go by any other names though? Is it the same as mountain laurel? Why am I confusing them? I don't think a lot of daphne grows in my area, that's probably got something to do with my

Ooh, when I saw the topic title the whole Tiki Bar jumped to mind! Can't believe this one hasn't been discussed in three years. But we do tend to yack away about so much...

Ugh, that would make me so sick I'm queasy thinking about it! Wonder if it would be worth complaining to management about? It's not like it actually makes the air cleaner or has some kind of health benefit. Regular perfumes would get overwhelming really fast at the gym, and I can't imagine someone wearing Snake Oil to a cardio workout - but something citrusy applied with a very light hand, maybe just to your wrists so you can take a sniff, shouldn't overwhelm anyone else, especially if you're all having to breathe synthetic air deodorizer fumes. Sudha Segara is one that hasn't been mentioned lately, it's the kind of ginger that smells almost lemony.

Oh, it's a Tiki tie-in thing. Thank you for posting those pictures, coldandsleepy!

I don't have mine yet, Tzi, but I will be checking back in when I do - it should be fairly soon. Michael Kors is one of my favorite non BPAL scents (despite the ridiculous orange persona he's developed since it was released years ago, I still love it ) and I love BPAL white florals. I have high hopes for Tupapau, which is the one that combines white florals with white sandalwood and a Hawaiian moss. Have you ruled out the Tiki Bar scents? I'm really looking forward to trying them, the reviews have them sounding much less sweet and boozy than I was fearing. I can understand just focusing on the florals to start with if fruity scents don't normally get along with you.

Becky, I wonder if you are just amping other notes in those blends to the exclusion of the rose. Cinnamon can be such a strong note, for example, it might just be beating out the rose on you. (Of that list, Harlot is the only one which smells like "lots of rose" on me and the cinnamon is pretty strong too - I can barely smell rose in any of the others that you listed, so you are not alone. For example, Zombi is pure dirt on me, KoH was just baked goods and fruit, Eve = sharp apple blossom on my skin.) From the general catalog, Black Rose or Moon Rose might be good places to start, since rose is the focus of those blends you may find that the other notes sing backup the way they're supposed to. Blood Rose might also work for you if dragon's blood is a note that works on your skin. Lucy's Kiss is rose with spices and London is a deep tea rose blend. Two, Five and Seven is rose-crazy and unless you happen to just amp green notes like a crazy-woman, you are bound to get some rose from it! Rose Cross is rose and frankincense and has a very serene and simple feel to it, I like it as a room scent (frankincense is iffy on me) but I hear a lot of good things about it from people who love frankincense too. If you like to persue the swaps and sales forum, see if you can track down the recent Yule LEs Rose Red &/or The Peacock Queen. Both are very pure rose - although there are other elements that make them whole your nose will pick up very little except lush red roses. Some people love both, others are sworn to one or the other, which is why I suggest trying both if you're able (I'm a Rose Red fan, myself).

The search engine can now find three letter words - that old restriction got worked around in the last update. The help info and old posts about using the search engine might not reflect this yet. But try a search for "gym" (or "tea" or something of your choosing), limited to titles only and topics only for ease, and you'll see that it works. I don't know that this applies to the the lab search engine (that you access through the retail site) yet, though - it runs through different software and may still balk at the three-letters-or-less searches.

No admonishment intended, so no blushing required And when it comes to what people do behind closed doors with their little bottles, I'm all about freedom! *eyebrow wiggle* I just have to make the effort to make sure the info is there, so when someone wanders in who doesn't understand the difference between BPAL & TAL, they can understand the differences and decide for themselves if they want to explore .

This came up in another thread recently - so my addressing it again so soon is not directed towards anyone personally, nor is it something I'm harping on for personal reasons, it's a moderating issue. I just have to mention that TAL Temple blends are not sold as perfumes and aren't intended for use on the skin, so as the Recs mod I disagree with them being used casually as scents or recommended for that use. There are TALs that are intended for use as scents but that particular set of ritual oils is not among them. Discussing what they smell like in this area isn't something I am going to warn you for or get angry about - I just feel a responsibility to mention these issues when someone does recommend them for perfume use, so that any newer members who aren't fully educated about TAL can make their own decisions. The thread here contains most of the discussion of this issue, and there may be more information in other threads in the TAL area. If there's something that's not covered there or you want to discuss further, feel free to bump that thread with your questions or PM me or wickedgoddess.

After reading through all the latest developments, this one seems like an overly obvious suggestion - but I was wondering if you've tried Kali, voodoobaby? It's very complex and I've never been able to describe it well although it was one of my first ZOMG BPALs - I think it's one of those blends where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, if you know what I mean. The notes are "...blooms of cassia, hibiscus, musk rose, Himalayan wild tulip, lotus and osmanthus swirled with offertory dark chocolate, red wine, tobacco, balsam and honey."

Frejya, Loki, and Hel have appeared on past "up and coming" lists. And I saw some chatter about Hel in last week's Will Call threads so she may be joining us soon.

You picked the perfect place to put that And I agree with you on VoR, it's almost like a resinous Three Witches. original version to boot. I was wavering on ordering a bottle of VoR, though - if the frankincense had been amber instead, it would be incredible on me, but frankincense sometimes gets a little bit of a weird kerosene hint on my skin. And VoR wasn't absolutely perfect, and I am swimming in bottles, and then my Sugar Moon order arrived with Mort de Cesar in it just before the Lupercalias were pulled. And if clove is a spice that delights you - Mort de Cesar is awesome! (Some of the reviewers have said it's bitter or masculine, but I can turn flowers into man-musk if there's even a hint of masculine in a blend and MdC doesn't get manly on me at all. Maybe there's enough sweetness in it for my chemistry to work with.) So I decided to be happy with my bottle of Mort de Cesar and my decant of Valentine of Rome... for now.

Have you tried Eat Me? It's all berries and vanilla on me. To get the mint element, you would have to layer it with something minty that would mesh w/ the sweet/foody feel (I'm thinking Lick It, Lick It Again, Lick It One More Time or Tokyo Stomp in that regard). There's also a Panacea that's very minty and eucalyptus-y but I can't remember which one, maybe someone can help me out.

Hmm... in three and a half years I've never seen a label like that, Freckle, and there isn't a BPAL blend called Alchemy. I know Aftelier (Mandy Aftel's natural perfume company) has a scent called Alchemy - although I could only find the solid form on her current website, I remember reading about it in her book. I suppose you could have a sample of a liquid version if it smells anything like "A floral heart swathed in amber and vanilla, with bitter orange and black pepper top notes."

Seconding the Bastet rec, if you love warm golden amber. When I think of Jacob's Ladder, I think spicy resins and one of my favorites that fits that bill is Hermia. Since it's GC you can pick up an imp easily, it does have some floral notes that JL doesn't but on me it's almost all pink pepper and amber, which is just a delicious combination. I also find The Lion to be a close relative to Jacob's Ladder, at least the way it mixes with my chemistry, so I'd recommend that one too. A little pricier but very lovely and similar in feel is the Salon blend And There Was A Great Cry In Egypt - the notes are dark myrrh, white sandalwood, amber, hyssop, frankincense, honey, cypress, red musk, cardamom and saffron; it's a sweet-spicy resin with lots of depth. I think White Light is an excellent tool for healing and dispelling negativity, so that's a wise choice for your list. Best of luck to you on your journey

Thank you, salixnoir! I think that you are absolutely correct after looking at the wikipedia articles on the two different plants/flowers. I was wondering how I could have missed the fact that there are actually two plants with different names and qualities - I'm far from an authority on all things perfume, but this was the sort of thing where I felt like I must have learned it incorrectly and it stuck with me (do you know that feeling?) Lo and behold, a little googling and I saw that the venerable Mandy Aftel uses the terms champa and champaca interchangeably in her book Essence and Alchemy. I am pretty sure that's where I must have read it. (That link should take you to page 114 of the Google preview of the book.) That in turn made me wonder - have I been thinking that nag champa and champaca smell alike only because I was operating under a misconception? Then I found this article by a natural perfumer, who mentions that a lot of people find them similar because one of the resins used in nag champa smells similar to champaca flower. So at least that makes me feel like a justifiable idiot I am so glad that you pointed this out!

I meant to mention in my earlier post - I don't think that any of the Temple blends from TAL are going to suit your purposes; they're ritual oils and although some people may wear them on the skin (contrary to the TAL disclaimer), it's not really what they are intended for. They aren't in the category of TALs that are meant for dual use as perfumes and ritual oils.

Champaca flower or nag champa incense is what immediately came to mind for me, too - but I have never visited a Hindu temple, so I didn't want to just jump to the conclusion that it was what you are smelling. Salixnoir's suggestion that you just sniff some of the incense is smart, it's available very widely, even at the counter at some gas stations! (Seriously, the same brand that I received as a gift in a package from Magical Omaha is sold at the Chevron around the corner from me - and that's not to say by any means that MO carries gas station quality products ) If the fragrance is reminiscent of what you smelled in the temples you visited, then you've cracked the code. And if nag champa &/or champaca flower is what you are in search of, you are in luck - there's a thread right here with lots of suggestions. The fragrance of the incense is actually one that I do not like at all - and champaca's ruined a few blends for me, it doesn't always play nice on my skin. Vasakasajja and Hellion are the only blends with it that work well on me. But according to the search engine, you can also find champaca flower in Khajuraho, Defutata, Kubla Khan, Temple Viper, Dr. John Seward, Prospero, Pumpkin II (from 2007) and Two Monsters. Gaueko and Urd contain a nag champa note. I think the difference, as far as BPAL perfumes go, is that the champaca flower note will be more pure floral and the nag champa note is similar to the scent of the incense, which is derived from the flower but contains some other elements and of course, will be very resinous.

Just a quick mod note - I added the word "artistic" to the title since I see we have at least one other artist who's joined tyro in the search since yesterday; I figured that will give people a little more info about the thread at a glance and help with future searches too. It's too bad the Muses have been discontinued, in some of the other "creativity" threads people mentioned using those blends when feeling uninspired, and not always the obvious Muse for the medium in which they worked.

Blueberry lovers rejoice! Looks like Beth has released BPAL's first ever blend with that elusive blueberry note... Blue Fire, from the Atomic Luau Lounge (specifically, the notes are papaya, blueberry, lemongrass, and gin). The will-call reviews are drifting in and some people are getting more blueberry than others, but I am sure this is going to be a must try for the blueberry fans out there. And if she has finally concocted a blueberry bouquet that she is happy with, there's a chance we'll see it in another scent, or more scents, down the line. I am on the fence about Blue Fire - I have to confess I personally have not been dying for a blueberry scent Sweet and fruity tends not to be on my list of loves, and papaya is a note I am really unsure about. But the whole Atomic Luau collection has me so fascinated, I think I am going to have to try them all! I'm just predicting that I am going to find my true loves among the tropical florals, green and woody scents in the collection and not so much among the boozy-fruity ones. Then again, one of the things I find the most fun about BPAL is when I stumble on something fantastic that I never would have predicted I'd love so much (Pisces 2007, Archangel Winter, and The Black Swan are the most recent ones that come to mind). So I am definitely keeping an open mind!

Welcome to the forum, Tyro! Hopefully, you won't be sorry you asked for suggestions Our more artistic members may have some good recommendations for you too, these are just some ideas to get you started. There are lots of ways you can go... You can take a peek at The Salon (you'll find the reviews here) and see if there's a favorite work of art or artist represented there that might inspire you, or take a chance on an imp set (or two or three) so you can work your way thru a mini scent-museum and see what strikes you. There are some other topics that touch on inspiration, too - one for writers and one for musicians and students of music; the thread about scents to help with studying and exams could also be helpful. And if you haven't discovered Twilight Alchemy Lab yet, you'll find some helpful chatter here.

ifinena, I found this post in the archive in an old, old thread - someone was looking for Christmas gifts for her sister and had listed Tresor as one of her sister's favorite fragrances for reference. And since this was posted there have been so many new BPAL scents - so maybe we can come up with some new suggestions too. Harikata (from the LE Shunga series) came to mind for me - it's a fruity honeyed floral.

I was trying to think of the notes that most often get accused of being "soapy" (like that's always a bad thing). Lilies came to mind immediately, and of course, lavender is a common culprit. Frankincense is very soapy on me but not on everybody. As you try more blends you may find that one of those notes has a soapier, fresher feel on you than you expected it to.