ivyandpeony

I second this! I have a bottle of Melancholia coming in my next lab order. I was also very excited about the lilac in Virahotkantita (from the Faces of the Heroine series that came out for Lupercalia). I orginally got a decant from a friend because it also has cedar, which loves to dominate a blend on me. But I get tons of lilac backed up by stargazer lily - just heavenly. So if you lilac lovers can hunt down a decant or a bottle, you may be as pleasantly surprised as I was.

No need for blushing, that's what this thread is for - and the search engine won't find terms of three letters or less, so you wouldn't get any results for "13," unfortunately. Also unfortunate , but just my opinion, there's just nothing like the first two versions of 13. (I haven't had the chance to try 13 III yet.) Do you have a feel for the notes that stand out on your skin? You could try to layer some other scents that feature those notes prominently. Or, you could just haunt the swaps section like Moaning Myrtle...

It hasn't been listed as a note in any other blends. But if you search for posts that include the word "catnip" in Reviews, you will see that a lot of people seem to think it's a component in the Voodoo blend Black Cat. Other blends that have gotten a mention for a whiff of catnip are Obeah (unreleased), Helping Hand (a TAL that was an exclusive to a retail store that's now closed), and Gennivre, L’Artiste du Diable, which is now available in Carnaval Diabolique and contains mint. So I'd definitely give Black Cat a try, and perhaps branch out into minty blends from there if you are still unsatisfied - you may find a mint blend that is herbally enough to give you a catnip feel.

You may have to experiment with floral blends and smoky blends to find ones that you like that will layer nicely together - in addition to the suggestions people are posting, you can find woodsmoke recs here and lilac here. Sarada, His Station and Four Aces came to mind for me too! I haven't had a chance to try it yet though - I'm waiting on it with my Friday the 13th order. Living so far south, I don't think this is a scent I will ever experience walking outside in the spring...

Just thought I'd mention, I have been adding new links and tidying the list. If you have any suggestions, feel free to PM me!

That is a really good call! And it's funny, Arabian Nights didn't work very well on me, but Mama Ji is lovely, my favorite of the three. I do like Gypsy Queen, but not so much that I wasn't willing to let someone have half of my bottle, knowing I'd never use all of it. Wonder what this says about me? I'm middle-of-the-road? Or at the very least, it says I am a floral kinda girl (although I have known that for a long time).

I'm anxious for my bottle of Minotaur to get here - I can't take heavy smoke in a blend, but I'm hearing that it adds a gorgeous nuance to Minotaur. So it may well be a great addition to the blends in this thread!

I recently discovered that Mania is very similar on my skin to Venom. This makes me happy!

I absolutely hate when I have to warn people. But I hate duplicate topics too, especially when there are links sitting in the "Short Guide to Common Recommendations." In the past two or three weeks, I have had to issue four or more warnings for this most basic and easily avoidable misstep! I don't know if everyone has spring fever or something - relatively new members are doing it just as much as old-timers. Before you start a thread focusing on a particular note in Recs, please double check to see if one has already been started! You can check the short guide, and you should also do a search by thread title. If you have any doubts or any questions, I am only a PM away (but please do give me time to respond). Feel free to PM me with any links that you think should be added to the short guide as well. Thanks everyone... sorry to be a kvetch, but it's been a problem lately!

at Karen! This one smells so cucumbery to me, like absolutely nothing but cucumber, like a cucumber big enough to stomp Tokyo. I am amazed that Beth can make something that smells like this and wowed by the freshness - but I can't take the cucumber single note, although I do like cucumber in blends (Tulzcha comes to mind). I sent the little squirt to a new home where he will be loved and cared for.

Really good topic, MV Most of the TALs I own are OK for use as perfume, but I think that even when you think you're dialing down your intent when you're wearing Dixie Love Perfume or Sexual Energy, your subconscious may not be, & you might be projecting a message you'd prefer not to be. And of course, if someone has no interest in the purposes and intent of a TAL oil but realize it smells wonderful, it's a great show of respect to want to find a BPAL perfume that smells similar instead of using the TAL as perfume. I'll be very interested to see how people respond.

I wore 51 last week to a doctor's appointment, thinking it was so light that I would be the only one to enjoy it. I got so many compliments, it must have crazy throw. (Luckily this was not the allergist or anything like that, so I didn't make anyone sick ) I really didn't put much on, either, because all I have is an imp. Next experience: I dabbed the tiniest bit of Knave of Hearts on from the cap to try it, and within moments I was surrounded by a caramel cloud. My husband could smell it on the other side of our family room. You may not amp the caramel the way that I do - I somehow turn blends like Red Lantern and that gorgeous Salon with the caramel into industrial strength, single note caramel - but it won't surprise me if you get a lot of throw from the Knave.

Here's a discussion of BPAL blends that smell like old books. And you can probably find some tree ideas in forests and woods talk. But I will have to put some original thought into the manly, earthly idea, although Luperci popped into my head immediately. It's an LE and won't be available much longer from the Lab, so you will have to move quickly if it appeals to you.

This is my new love. While Beth's sense of humor must have inspired the name, this blend itself is fucking genius, for lack of a better description. It's crisp and green, very feminine, and people asked me about it wherever I went, so it apparently has crazy throw. I get a beautiful combination of freesia and white musk for the most part, with citrus and neroli topnotes and a hint of ambery drydown. I was reminded in the oddest way of a Creed scent I used to wear, Fleurissimo, which I don't think I have smelled since about 2001 - I will have to look it up to see what notes they share, though. I didn't even want to mess around with the angst of searching swaps for an unwanted bottle - I just went ahead and ordered a bottle tonight, along with a bottle of Morocco I wanted because I got the best frimp of Morocco ever in my order today. (I usually wait and wait and wait before ordering because I like to get the most out of my shipping, and I have tons of bottles to swap right now, but no! there could be no waiting!) Anyone who's a fan of the Lab's light musk scents should give this one a try, even if there's a note or two that would usually send you running. I hesitated myself, because I am no fan of guava or honeydew, but somehow the other elements (perhaps the citrus, the woods, the amber?) balance out the tropical sweetness that could have ruined this one for me. I have a feeling all the light, spring-y blends that I have moved to the front of my bottle box are going to be neglected when my bottle of 51 arrives.

I went into this one with an open mind, not knowing what to expect. In the bottle and on my skin? Not a rose in sight! Sweet toffee caramel with just a hint of blackcurrant fruitiness. I have been known to amp caramel exponentially, and to the total exclusion of all other ingredients, so don't write it off if you want roses, and definitely give it a try if you are a foody fan. Knave of Hearts may be one of those blends that gives everyone a unique experience.

Svadhinaopatika (golden amber, oude, red sandalwood, massoia bark, honey, and currant) is incredible - the sweetness of the honey and currant balance the woodiness perfectly and complement the spicy amber so well. Jarvenpa, have you tried Jacob's Ladder? The '05 version resembles The Lion on me, but is much richer and it lasts forever.

Try Habu from the Snake Pit. It's green and wet, with some woods and incense to keep things interesting. Habu is a great suggestion - I think the bamboo adds that green element for me. As a matter of fact, I find any of the BPAL blends with bamboo to be very green, but usually very mellow. Of course, a number of my favorite ones are limited editions so you can only find them through swaps or sales (in particular, I love Holiday Moon and Whippoorwill). I did a search and found other blends with bamboo include Dragon Moon, Harvest Moon 2006, Neo-Tokyo, and Sleepy Moon. Two very unusual scents that I would at least overlap into the green category are The Apothecary - mossy, grassy, figgy green - and Two, Five & Seven, which is rosy floral green.

I am so sorry for your loss, Frills. Alli has a very good point - it's amazing how intensely most of us come to associate scents with occasions or memories, particularly when they're very emotional events. Although sometimes a scent becomes a nostalgic reminder of someone you've lost, I have heard more stories about people who break down when they smell roses, for example, because it reminds them of their mother's perfume. Here's a thread where others have discussed some of the common comfort scents - although comfort is really dependent on your preferences, some of the suggestions there could be helpful. Once you've had a chance to get some responses here, I may merge this thread with that one so we can continue to build a resource on the subject. I was thinking, since your goals are both feeling comforted and keeping your mind clear... have you thought about Kumiho? It's combination of tea and ginger, which I find to be bright and sweet, and I think I'd describe it as fitting both of those needs. Sudha Segara might also be a good candidate. As far as aquatics, if you can get your hands on Banded Sea Snake quickly, it's amazing - Snake Oil with an aquatic feel, which I would not have thought possible. Light and cool, warm and creamy all at the same time.

I'm really excited to have another carnation scent! And I have really enjoyed the sugared florals Beth's created so far (I'm thinking Midnight on the Midway, Hope & Faith). I am so looking forward to getting Pink Moon '07.

I adore The Olive Branch and haven't found anything that's readily available made by anyone other than Lush that even vaguely resembles it! They did make the forum special perfume and a body cream - the Happy Pill ballistic is scented with it, half Olive Branch and half Happy Hippy, but all I smell is Olive Branch - and to my nose, the BNever scent Ten Thousand Kisses Deep is a little reminiscent of it. (BNever is Lush's sister company, just in case you aren't familiar with them.) Maybe this spring I will do a revisiting of the citrusy BPAL scents, paying special attention to those with bergamot And blu° - what your suggestion will help do is drive up the already wild demand for Venom

I received my order with the Relief Pack in it at just the perfect time - about a week and a half before I came down with some sort of nasty little flu-like thing. Headache, fever, an on-and-off stuffy nose with sinus pain have been the main features... So Grr and I have become very good friends in a short time. Grr is indeed very minty, as previous reviewers have stated, and like them I'm sure it's peppermint because it has that icy-hot peppermint feel. There are some background players though - I get a little bit of lavender in there and some other herbal, green notes that I can't identify. The overall scent effect is on the sharper side, as opposed to creamy and smooth, but I don't find it extremely stimulating the way that peppermint oil or shower gel, etc. are to me. That makes me think the lavender and whatever else is in there could be helping to mitigate the stimulating effects of the mint in addition to alleviating any tension that's contributing to the pain. A few minutes to myself to lie down in my quiet room, shut my eyes and inhale some Grr has helped immensely with my rotten-feeling head, while keeping my Advil intake down to a reasonable level. I need to add a bottle of this to my household health staples!

My little imp (and bath fizzie) of Oof have been lifesavers this past week while I have been feeling sick. This stuff really works for painful sinuses - I swear I can feel the irritated membranes being soothed, calmed and shrinking up almost instantly when I hold that little wand up to my nose. The average American probably can't smell menthol and/or eucalyptus without thinking about Vicks Vapor Rub, and I am no exception - but to me this is also quite different from Vapor Rub and similar products. Oof smells much more herbal and green than any commercial product I have tried. I have always found them harsh and eye-watering. I wonder if there's some juniper and anise in Oof, because I get a little whiff of gin and a slight licorice smell from it too, once that first nostril clearing wave has dissipated a bit. (Juniper would make sense for its detoxifying benefits and lymphatic stimulation, as would fennel, which also detoxifies and can help you relax without getting too sleepy.) I appreciate that there are no ingredients other than essential oils, meaning I can use it in a diffuser, make a sachet of it, etc. and that it isn't in a greasy petroleum jelly base that I hate to put on my skin. With the number and variety of colds and sinus issues I have, I am definitely ordering a bottle of this with the next update. It's one of the fastest-working and most effective Panaceas I have tried.

Because of the lab's recommendation that pregnant customers avoid wearing BPAL oils on their skin for the duration of pregnancy, I am going to close this topic to further posts. However, I would like to direct anyone who is interested to the following thread: Light, gentle, subtle scents... for offices, expectant moms, etc. Those pregnant moms who may want to use scent lockets or scent their homes with BPAL should be able to find some great recommendations for blends that are less overwhelming/stomach-churning to the hormonally activated senses. Good luck!

Moxie is a great citrus with no lemon at all - it's bright, spicy orange. It definitely energizes me. You can find it in the Panaceas category (or buy a bath fizzy scented with it from the Black Phoenix Trading Post). It is my favorite from the Panaceas and my favorite bath fizzy of the ones I have tried! You might notice that I did merge the threads... but I am going through and archiving old chatter in the longer threads throughout the Recs subforum so they will be easier to read through. Don't forget you can always do a search of only the subforum or of the topic itself to make things easier!

Whitechapel is definitely my favorite lime BPAL! The combination of notes is wonderful. For orange, I love The Haunted Palace, although orange isn't necessarily the dominant note. Grapefruit can go strange on me, but I do love The Queen of Diamonds (that one may be hard to track down, though, since it was a forum only LE from late 2004). I can't always tell the difference between lemon and lemon verbena in a blend, unless everything else with the verbena is herbal and woody as well. So I find Shanghiai deliciously lemon-y, even though it contains verbena. Phobos is gorgeous, layers of lemon scents over white musk and white grapefruit - again, it's lemon verbena instead of lemon (with lemongrass added too). My ultimate favorite lemon is Snow Angel, though. The description of Santa Eularia des Rios doesn't name the specific fruit used, just "piquant citrus," but it is a lovely citrus to my nose.