Searching for the Perfect Vanilla?

[Lexie]

I'm seconding Dorian and The Bow and Crown of Conquest. They are both so good!

 

My boyfriend doesn't want to wear Dorian because it's too sweet to his liking. But he has worn The Bow and Crown of Conquest couple of times; it wasn't so sweet and he seemed quite happy with it. Maybe you want to try it out if he tends to amp sweetness too much. It has some kind of musk though, if remember correctly, but I didn't find it overpovering.

 

I wish my boyfriend was interested in BPAL too. It would be so much fun to try scents together. Usually I have to force ask him to wear a scent...

[black*cat]

Dorian, absolutely! mmmm....Dorian.....

[Delirium1009]

I'd recommend seeing if you can find a decant of Shadwell to try... that is a very sweet, creamy scent (it reminds me of the vanilla in Lyonesse) with a touch of a colognish scent, maybe bergamot. It's a very comforting scent to me. I'd imagine it would smell really good on a guy who does well with vanilla notes.

[Sarri]

If Dorian is too sweet you could try Theodosius the Ledgerdemain from the carnival diabolique.. it's a lot like Dorian but just a bit musky-ier and crisper. I loves it, on me or the boy

[empi girl]

Another vote for Golden Priapus. My husband likes it, and I love it on him. It has vanilla, but it's not sweet or softly creamy in the least, more spicy, and has a nice depth to it. Probably my favorite scent on him, actually.

[concrescence]

i would also suggest morocco. vanilla is not one of the listed notes, but it clearly smells like a spicy vanilla. it's very gender neutral and smells great on both me and my exboyfriend.

[forspecial_plate]

One of my new favorite scents is Montresor...."The black fruit and vanilla oaken notes of fine Medoc and De Grâve, but not a hint of the elusive Amontillado". I love deep, somewhat dark scents and this sure is that, and the vanilla is fairly prominent on my skin. It's LE but doesn't seem all that hard to find....I found a 5ml fairly quickly on ebay.

 

This from another guy who sometimes amps sweet notes, which can sometimes ruin a scent for me (unless I want a really sweet scent, like Sugar Skull).

[portalkat]

In the Snake Oil vein, there is also Death Adder from Carnaval Diabolique. Theodosius and Tombstone are wonderful as well.

[Galen]

Another Tombstone lover here, although woody and dry as it is, it can be a tad sweet...

[evilbee]

Well, if you're wanting to avoid sweet and he amps it, then he might have trouble with Dorian. To me it's like lemon & vanilla cake batter with lots of white, creamy musk. Tombstone is a good, masculine vanilla suggestion. I also found Sea of Glass to have a lot of vanilla, and aquatics. Mr. Ibis is another that might work as it has vanilla but also a crisp quality to it that could be very masculine.

[Nia]

what a mine of suggestions! Thanks!

 

I have an imp of Dorian, I had forgot about that one because it's from a recent swap. I need to take a good look at my spreadsheet and the box to see if I also have any of the others!

[alicia_stardust]

I'll add backup votes for Tombstone, Golden Priapus, and Dorian. Nathan likes all three of those.

 

And OMG I just finished reading The Picture of Dorian Grey and now the scent has tripled in sexiness.

[poisons_sanity]

What about Antique Lace? Or is that too sweet? From what I've read a lot of boys like to wear that one. Also, maybe Death Adder and Black Opal? My boyfriend likes Death Adder a lot.

[ayelienne]

I might be wrong, but I'm under the impression that Tonka is in the same general scent family as Vanilla, and so, I'd recommend Dee, which is pretty swoonworthy

[squirrelmonkey]

Tonka-wise, I also think Old Scratch is a good one to try -- on me, it's tonka with a hint of patchouli. Seems like a good masculine scent.

[zenvodunista]

My boy is one who wears Antique Lace - but if your boy amps sweet, it might be too sweet.

 

Strangely enough, I've heard Black Opal described as "mineralistic vanilla" so maybe try an imp of that.

 

Tombstone, again, is a woody, rugged, vanilla. Good stuff. No sweetness there at all.

 

I also would recommend Shadwell. It seems to do really different things on different people's skin. On me, the rainwater takes over. Other people get lots of tobacco with a hint of cream, others get lots of cream or lots of tea. Try it, and see what happens.

 

Dee with the tonka, not vanilla would be good. Try Perversion too. I adore that scent and find it to be fairly gender neutral. The vanilla-like tonka is to die for, and hints of leather and wine bowl me over every time.

 

Also, try Snake Oil. So many of us girls wear it that we think of it as feminine, but I think it's quite gender neutral. On my BF it's much more spicy than it is on me. On me it's more musky. But give it a try.

 

Also, for some reason, not vanilla related, I want to say that he should try the puppets from the CD set. For some reason I think they might work on him, they are so woody and lovely.

 

N.

PS: Old Scratch smells super sexy on my BF. He also loves Hellfire.

Edited August 27, 2007 by zenvodunista

[t_for_tau]

I definitely recommend Golden Priapus; as a guy, it's the only vanilla scent that works on me.

[Nemesister]

I definitely recommend Golden Priapus; as a guy, it's the only vanilla scent that works on me.

 

golden priapus is a wonderful scent....once the pine toilet cleaner disappears!

 

i'd recommend that and tombstone.

[arrowroot]

Snake Oil and Black Opal

[sixthsentinel]

I'm not sure what the Tombstone-tally is up to, but I'll 3rd, 4th, 5th, whatever that one. I've been dying to smell this on a man, but mine won't hold still long enough to let me deposit so much as a drop on him. Silly boy, why waste my bpal on him anyway

[lookingglass]

My man loves Boomslang. He won't wear Snake Oil (which I wear almost daily), but loves Boomslang...go figure! Maybe it is the woods or cocoa. I thought that adding cocoa would make it sweeter, but on him, somehow it isn't. Smells like a dark, sexy man!

[Nia]

We tried eight scents (Phobos, Thanatos, Dragon's Claw, Othello, Shanghai, Kyoto, a posset, and Alecto). Everything was too sweet or too floral and what could not possibly be either turned soapy. I would have given up on BPAL for him if I had not convinced him that Morocco suits him, and a Tokyo Stomp is on the way. Yay!

[mountainwitch]

We tried eight scents (Phobos, Thanatos, Dragon's Claw, Othello, Shanghai, Kyoto, a posset, and Alecto). Everything was too sweet or too floral and what could not possibly be either turned soapy. I would have given up on BPAL for him if I had not convinced him that Morocco suits him, and a Tokyo Stomp is on the way. Yay!

 

My boyfriend smells great in vanilla-type fragrances. He's almost run through a bottle of Dorian all by himself. Tombstone, mentioned upthread, is another favorite of his--he's exhausted one imp and wants a whole bottle. He smelled pretty good in Bow and Crown of Conquest too.

 

I'd also second the Golden Priapus; the juniper, rosewood, and white pine notes definitely add a more masculine edge. (Although I really like to wear that one myself. ) Lyonesse is a sweet one too, but there are notes of grey amber and ambergis which always make me think that it could work well on a man.

 

Of course, if worst comes to worst, you can always take the vanilla SN he likes and layer it with other complementary fragrances too.

[merivelle]

I agree that you should try Tombstone. The cedar gives the vanilla are more masculine feeling. Good luck.

[Nia]

We tried eight scents (Phobos, Thanatos, Dragon's Claw, Othello, Shanghai, Kyoto, a posset, and Alecto). Everything was too sweet or too floral and what could not possibly be either turned soapy. I would have given up on BPAL for him if I had not convinced him that Morocco suits him, and a Tokyo Stomp is on the way. Yay!

 

Of course, if worst comes to worst, you can always take the vanilla SN he likes and layer it with other complementary fragrances too.

 

oh, that's what he plans to do with Morocco! It is so frustrating because on me it smells of musky vanilla, full stop. On him it smells of the whole spice market from the vanilla stall. I want _his_ smell on my skin. And he still wants to smell of custard.