BPALs like Serge Lutens perfumes

[Blueelm]

I wasn't sure if I should have posted this in the sandalwood thread or not. I'm a huge fan of Serge Lutens Santal Blanc. I've been wondering if there is a BPAL that has a similar quality since I like those notes so much.

 

I think what I like is the non-powdery quality of the sandalwood in that scent. Normally sandalwood is very soft and powedery. Santal Blanc is almost more like cedar or agar. There is a citrusy quality and a lot of musk.

 

I think the notes are: sandalwood, iris, cinnamon, fenugreek, Copahu balsam, jasmine, Siamese benzoin, pink pepper, musk.

 

 

I'm not looking for a dupe. Just looking for suggestions of fragrances I would probably like based on that.

[sarada]

I've never smelled that, but the BPAL that best fits the description of spicy, cedary sandalwood would be Sri Lanka, in my opinion. Even though I don't think spices are listed it strikes me as having a very spicy quality, and the sandal and cedar are definitely there.

[gravity_always_wins]

There's always the option of layering different scents. On me, Fire of Love was a spicy, musky cedar. Clearly cedar.

[Blueelm]

hmm... I'll try to sample each of those in my next order. I know that I love pepper also. One of my favorite BPAL fragrances, Grandmother of Ghosts, mentions it.

 

Maybe layering a woody scent with a peppry one...

 

 

Thanks

[Juliet's Silk]

I think Yggdrasil may be close. On me it was all cedary sandalwood with some cinnammon - don't know if this may be the spices and sweetness you have in mind, but I really liked it. You should give it a try!

[SurrealReality]

It is my most beloved perfume (my chemistry ruins most), but now I need to find something else to love because it is no longer available in the U.S. (only in Paris)

On me, chergui is moderately sweet (honey/hay), but sharp and slightly smoky (incense/spice/resin), and thankfully has no green notes whatsoever.

So could anyone recommend something from BPAL that is sweet (and I mean any level of sweet: slightly, moderately, or very; and from almost anything: honey, hay, fruit, vanilla, caramel, flowers...) but sharp (like from spice or incense, but not from herbal spice, or green notes) and has very little or no green or herbal notes? This is actually my first post here, so I'm sorry if I'm being to precise, or sounding to picky . A big thank you to anyone who answers this!

Edited June 21, 2007 by SurrealReality

[eanewsom]

I'd try Shub. It lists herbs, but doesn't smell herby to me at all. I think it smells like spicy cotton candy.

 

ETA: Thanks, ivyandpeony!

Edited June 21, 2007 by Ahania

[ivyandpeony]

Shub is Shub-Niggarath, from the Picnic in Arkham category, BTW. There's a special kind of shorthand around here.

 

It will definitely depend on your chemistry, but for me anything with dragon's blood (resin) as a component = sweet and sharp at the same time - unfortunately, I am not very keen on sharp scents so I can't wear most of them. But take a look at the Ars Draconis category. Dragon's Milk is has a lot of honey in it which would make it even sweeter for you; Dragon's Claw has a nice, dry feel complementing the sweetness of the dragon's blood.

[kwsix]

I agree with ivyandpeony about the dragon's blood. Maybe try Blood . . . it's sweet and spicy, but no herbs in sight.

[northatlantic]

Bengal - honey and skin musk for sweetness, and lots and lots of spices. And of course, the classic Snake Oil.

[ClareN]

I tried Chergui once but can't remember what it was like. I don't think Shub-Niggurath is very much like it - it's totally gingersnaps. (Delicious though!) That said, a lot of BPAL scents are sweet yet sharp with spices. I think the ever-popular Snake Oil and Morocco are described that way, although I haven't tried them yet, just drooled over the reviews online. Right now I'm wearing Dorian, which is a sweet lemony tea scent. The tea adds just a hint of sharpness, but there's no green note.

[cranberry]

you know, my first thought was Osun, which is a heavy honey scent, but what I think actually matches it better is Nahemoth. It's a Sephiroth and will unfortunately be discontinued in the very near future, but it's sweet yet sharp. Wonderful in fact. I think it has the same feel as Chergui and while not an exact match, pretty close. It's probably the most popular of the Sephiroth's so if you discover you don't like it you could probably get rid of it fairly easy. You may just want to pick up a bottle before the next update when it'll go poof into the night.

[ivyandpeony]

Bumping this old thread because I stumbled on it during forum tidying and I just had a sad-for-me, might-be-good-for-you moment... I wore Al Azif yesterday for the first time in a while. (I have the original version, not that I think it's been reformulated, but it's 2 1/2 years old and nicely aged.) And wow, don't know what my chemistry has done to it, I didn't smell anything different when I applied it, but it went super-sharp on me although it still had that lovely sweet incense note anchoring it. I have a wiggedy-whack thyroid and I am actually very lucky that this doesn't happen to me more often when I pull something out that I haven't worn in a few months.

 

Anyway, when I read SurrealReality's list of requirements there, I thought, "Hmmmm..." Because our chemistries and perceptions are so different from person to person, it could end up being lovely on you or other Chergui fans. If you love incense it's a must-try anyway, and since it's in the General Catalog now the only obstacle is your budget.

[septima_pica]

"Notes include honey, musk, leather, incense, tobacco leaf, hay, sugar, amber, iris, rose, sandalwood."

 

I love scents like that. However, nothing comes immediately to mind to match the notes here, probably because I avoid amber like the plague. I'd note, though, that anything with tonka is probably a good bet if you like the sweet hay note, because the aromatic molecule coumarin is the notable scent in both hay and tonka bean.

 

I'm a huge fan of tonka, so I'll recommend a few to you that kinda fit into this family. Dee is not terribly sweet except for the tonka, but also has lovely leather and incense notes. Nemesis is one of my favourites but the cypress is probably too green for you. Perversion is quite sweet, with tonka, tobacco, and coconut, but also leathery and a bit sharp from booze. Sybaris is a good tonka if you can wear violet.

 

Anubis and Athens are also recommended, for sweet-sharp incense scents.

[Red_Hot_Mama]

Hi,

 

Al Azif which ivyandpeony suggested is actually a very good BPAL cousin to Serge Lutens' Cherugi. Not an exact match, but it's defintitely got the same vibe. I think it would be worth a try. I own both, btw.

I can also see the Perversion analogy but Perversion, which I like very, very much is sweeter (on me at least) than Cherugi. It is worth a try for the leather note alone, IMO.

these, to me are the two best choices with my skin chemistry.

good luck!

[Beatrice33]

Bumping this thread to say that today I realized finally what Ninon, the courtesan scent, reminds me of--one of my former fave scents: Chergui! It's got the hay, musk, and honey, and it's a similary enveloping scent.

[Trainwreck112005]

I would love to find a bpal scent that's similar to serge lutens... Un Bois Vanille... Anyone have any suggestions??? I love Un Bois but it's so pricey and just doesn't last very long on me. I have some snake oil on the way but I haven't actually gotten my hands on it yet! I just recently became acquainted with bpal and it would be awesome to find something along those lines that's bpal!! Any ideas???

[lookingglass]

I would love to find a bpal scent that's similar to serge lutens... Un Bois Vanille... Anyone have any suggestions??? I love Un Bois but it's so pricey and just doesn't last very long on me. I have some snake oil on the way but I haven't actually gotten my hands on it yet! I just recently became acquainted with bpal and it would be awesome to find something along those lines that's bpal!! Any ideas???

Snake Oil totally rocks (my "If I could only have 1 fragrance for the rest of my life" scent), but I believe you will be tempted to search further, as well, due to it's being it's own being, and the lack of soft woods. Don't worry-the madness is bliss...

 

You might want to try:

Antikythera Mechanism: teak, oak, tobacco, and vanilla. Similar notes, but can come across as a bit astringent at first. The drydown is nice, creamy, dark vanilla woods.

Glowing Vulva (it was an LE...is the bath oil still available?): Cream accord, amber, teak, and lotus blossom.

Morocco: Arabian spices wind through a blend of warm musk, carnation, red sandalwood and cassia. This one FEELS more like Un Bois to me. Vanilla isn't listed, but it's regularly noticed as a primary note. The woods have a similar lift that Un Bois does, and it tends to feel sheer.

Edited October 16, 2011 by lookingglass

[Trainwreck112005]

Thanks I am going to start looking for some of those scents... I have some snake oil on the way but it hasnt arrived yet... I'm a little worried that it will have patchouli in it... It's not listed as a note so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Patchouli goes horribly wrong on me... Do any of the other scents listed have pachouli in them that you know of??

[yakiguri]

*necro bump*

 

So I've been going through my scent decants (both BPAL and non-BPAL) and utterly fell in love with Serge Lutens' Fumerie Turque. Unfortunately it seems to be unavailable in the US now, curses. Aside from that it's utterly out of my budget.

 

Notes:

tobacco, honey, juniper berries, tonka bean, chamomile, patchouli, vanilla, turkish rose, red currant, styrax and suede

 

What comes off strongest on my skin are the honey, tobacco, tonka and vanilla, with the suede/leather peeking out now and then. Is there a similar sweet tobacco BPAL out there, or a combo I can layer to make this beautiful concoction? From my own stash I have VILF (leather is most prominent), Kubla Khan (no tobacco), and The Illustrated Woman (all pine).

[ModderRhu]

first thing that came to mind was variety of pleasing amusements in the current shungas.

 

Honey, leather, tobacco, and myrrh.

 

i personally love it on me. it sounds a lot like what you described.

[orata]

How about Sara Pezzini, Tobacco Honey, Pussy Moth, or The Ta-Ta?

[yakiguri]

ModderRhu, I have Variety of Pleasing Amusements--forgot to mention that one. The tobacco is sharper in this than in Fumerie Turque, and VPA lacks the spiciness that FT has. The base bones of both are similar, but in comparing the two I think the extra bits in FT give it an extra oomph over VPA. Then again we'll have to see what VPA smells like with a few more months of marinating...

 

Orata--I haven't tried any of those except Pussy, but I'll need to now. I have a decant of Pussy (my not-so-inner 12-year-old still titters at the name ) but the tobacco in that screams over all the other notes for some reason. :/

[Wwindy]

This is a little bit of a long shot depending on how much your skin sweetens things up, but maybe Minamoto No Yorimitsu Cuts at the Earth Spider (Toasted sandalwood, tobacco flower, teakwood, castoreum accord, bourbon vanilla, and patchouli)?

[ClareN]

Just tried Serge Lutens Sa Majeste La Rose and it reminded me very much of BPAL's Rose Red...which in turn is similar to The Rose (The Rose has more greenery).