Notes That Don't Work, Blends That Do

[tharsei-thanate]

(Apologies in advance if there's already been a topic like this! I looked around but didn't see one.)

 

If there's one thing I've learned about BPAL, it's that it always manages to surprise you. Blends that you think won't work smell great, blends that you think will work fall flat, blends that smell just ok become fantastic with age or vice versa, etc.

 

But everyone has their good notes and their bad notes, and sometimes bad notes ruin every blend you try. And yet, occasionally you come across a blend with a death note that works- maybe the bad note doesn't appear at all, or it smells like it's actually supposed to!

 

So this is a topic for that, people who have shared bad notes recommending blends that don't get ruined by the notes o' doom.

 

To start, coconut smells awful on me. I've tried Snow White 2010, The Last Unicorn, and Obatala, and the coconut turned into Play-Doh in the former two and into sour death in the latter. Totally not fun. What I'm wondering is, is there anyone else who has trouble with coconut but managed to find a blend with coconut that worked? I'd love to find a coconut BPAL that actually smells like the real deal and not sour plastic!

[sth0]

Elegba. I love the crap out of that one. I do love coconut, though, in general.

[Numanoid]

I second Elegba...coconut is ALWAYS nasty on me, but this one works well. I also can't seem to find a nice "boozy" note that works, so try Elegba. Also, it might be just me, but I have tried many different years of Snow White and for me, the 2010 one wasn't good, even though the other ones I have tried, (2007,2011,2012) were delicious. So maybe if you can get your hands on different years, maybe??

Edited April 24, 2013 by Numanoid

[tharsei-thanate]

Ok, I'll give Elegba a shot. I do like tobacco, so it might work!

 

And yeah, from what I've seen, 2010 was a pretty bad year for Snow White. I was extra bummed because it was my second BPAL ever and it very nearly turned me off BPAL altogether. It didn't even age well, it just kept smelling like Play-Doh. But maybe I'll look around for a few partial decants of the other years. I'd be nice if Snow White wasn't a total lost cause. (:

[Fuhrankie]

Jasmine. I turn it into baby powdered horror. And vetiver usually gives me problems -

 

But in The Caterpillar all I get is hippy shop incense, and it's pretty darn good. I *almost* regret giving away my imp, but it was never something I was going to wear.

 

 

You might want to try a decant of The Raptures and Roses of Vice, btw. That coconut note is completely different from any others I have tried, and even friends who dislike coconut enjoyed the fragrance on me.

[Beckiemort]

Perversion also seems quite coconutty, but then again my skin doesn't have problems with coconut.

[JazzieCazzie]

For me, I have certain "notes of doom" (even if they're scents or flavors I like in real life!) and one of them is orange, which usually turns into nasty Triaminic syrup on me ... but I was lagniapped with an imp of Jabberwocky and it was shockingly great on me! I probably still would not voluntarily purchase a blend with orange in it, but am glad I was given this ... it was a keeper for me!

[tharsei-thanate]

You might want to try a decant of The Raptures and Roses of Vice, btw. That coconut note is completely different from any others I have tried, and even friends who dislike coconut enjoyed the fragrance on me.

 

You know, I didn't get a decant of that in the circle I had joined because of the coconut, but looking at the notes again, it could work. I do love cinnamon and musk, and occasionally rose.

 

Now I'm wondering if the type of coconut in a blend changes the scent? Some blends just say "coconut" but then there's coconut husk, coconut milk, coconut flesh... this might be worth looking into! I'm putting Raptures and Roses on my wishlist. (:

 

Perversion also seems quite coconutty, but then again my skin doesn't have problems with coconut.

 

Oooh, tobacco and tonka. <3 A lot of reviewers are catching coconut. It might be worth a try!

[captnklaus]

I really enjoy coconut, but my problem with it is that it just disappears immediately and I can't smell it at all. But I recently tried Death Adder and that was really coconutty! Wonder if its because its of the "black coconut" variety. And I normally can't do vetiver either but it works well in that one too.

 

 

Violets always end up ruining a blend for me. They tend to come to the front and its all I can smell, and it brings up a lot of scent associations (not BAD ones, but it makes me feel weird and I just can't do it). But I discovered that one of the scents I really love, Elf, has it!

Is it because it's "parma violet" rather than straight up violet? Well, either way, that was a nice surprise.

[malibusunny]

I hate coconut but there is a blend I like with coconut... Now I wish I had my spreadsheet!

[hexatomic]

You could try Touched Twice, too! It's in a similar "camp" to Raptures and Roses for me, though a bit simpler. I like coconut and can wear it, and I had wished it was more prominent in that blend, but it might work for you.

[lookingglass]

I can't usually to cedar, but I loooooove The Cat from the Coraline series! The cedar gives a bit of fresh, woody lift that doesn't go all pencil shavings. It's sweet and sexy!

 

Leather, too, not so much, but the White Rider is clean, creamy, and comforting.

[tharsei-thanate]

You could try Touched Twice, too! It's in a similar "camp" to Raptures and Roses for me, though a bit simpler. I like coconut and can wear it, and I had wished it was more prominent in that blend, but it might work for you.

 

Yes, looking at the other notes they might keep the coconut in check. I'll add this to my wishlist, too.

[tharsei-thanate]

YOU GUYS I JUST TESTED AND REVIEWED WOLF SPIDER AND IT WORKS ON ME AND I AM ACTUALLY CRYING A LITTLE IRL

 

Omg I hope the coconut and vanilla in Wolf Spider behave forever and ever and ever and ever.

 

Also, this gives me hope for Elegba. Wolf Spider is one sweet booze and tobacco and coconut blend that works, Elegba might very well be another!

[surlygurl]

To keep this from turning into a coconut thread, I'll throw in my 2 cents for jasmine. Usually it is an evil, sharp, cat-pee kinda scent.... then I discovered Corina. There, jasmine gives a bite to the other florals and the whole thing smells lovely on me.

 

Also, honey. Honey goes sour on my skin. Gennivre was horrid, and the honey blends were scary bad. But A.E. Albopictus from the 2012 butterflies was win on me. Maybe because of all the sharp bitey notes? Who knows. It doesn't read as 'honey' on me; it reads as sweet/savory garden. That may be the secret.

[ioleda]

Vetiver usually goes awful and straight up smoke on me, but I LOVE it in Prurience. The other notes really calm it down. I'm so glad the lab frimped me that one.

[Teaotter]

Rose! It smells like nasty scented soap, amps like mad, and drowns out everything in any blend. I've tried every color rose there is, rosewater, rose-infused, even tearose, and they all do it.

 

Until I tried Dream, which pairs white rose and oudh. Those two notes together work for me, both in Dream and in Delight and Consternation. They have a soft, fluffy, non-soapy rose note that plays well with others. Yay!

[OlfactoryMaven]

Coconut is plastic on me except for Body Remember.

[tharsei-thanate]

Coconut is plastic on me except for Body Remember.

 

Oooh, I wanna try that. I'm really interested in how different coconuts smell, now. Raw black coconut looks intriguing!

 

I think I'd like to maybe try Death Adder, too, since captnklaus brought it up and it had black coconut, but Snake Oil doesn't work on me at all and vanilla's iffy (and if it's at all like the vanilla in Snake Oil it's guaranteed to be plastic on me) so I'm pretty sure it'd be a waste, haha. Maybe a little tester at the most.

 

Anyway, to steer away from coconuts for a moment, I should mention that for a while I had a bad streak with patchouli until I tried a frimp of Vespillo I had. I bought a bottle about five minutes later. Seriously, most well-behaved patch I've ever tried. On me it's loud, but it's not dirty or powdery at all. If any of y'all have problems with patchouli, I totally recommend Vespillo. (:

[Atrous]

Roses either amp up ridiculously (to where I get a headache) or go soapy.

Carnations go rancid. I mean it literally smells like they are rotting

 

So....Maiden shouldn't work on me but it does.

 

When I got the freebie from the lab, I almost swapped it without testing because I was 100% certain it wouldn't work. During a moment of boredom I went ahead and tested it and I'm glad I did. Both carnation and rose smell fresh and lovely in Maiden.

Why can't all rose/carnation notes smell this way.

[Alainn]

Second Body, Remember--it was actually my first LE last year when I started with BPAL, and found that all things coconut turned hideously awful on me...but that one is Boozy, salty-sweet coconut goodness.

 

I have issues with roses too, and I've yet to find anything rose-y that doesn't smell sour once it hits my skin. And I love roses...it's very sad.

[neptuneanblues]

The only vetiver blend that works on me is A Golden Idol, for sure.

 

I believe the only "wine" blend that works on me is Halloween: Las Vegas, but I'm not totally sure about that one (it's possible that something else with wine works on me).

[malibusunny]

it's Red Lantern!

[zmulls]

I cannot seem to wear a single floral note. Not one. Wonderful blends are ruined by an amp up of a floral, which clashes with my chemistry. Crowley is bad on me due to the lilac.

 

And incense does the baby powder or disappearing act. Just doesn't register.

 

So all those lovely light and airy scents are wasted on me. It's easy for me to bypass most of an update now.

 

But on the flip side, most people shy away from vetiver, but it's one of the things that settles in nicely on my skin. So there's some justice.

[sth0]

I can't find a vetiver that doesn't smell horrid on me. :/ I think maybe I just hate the smell.

 

There was one scent I liked with oude in it, but I can't recall the name. Everything else has been overpowered by it. I thought I would love rose and oude together but it just smells dirty and unsettling. Oude also reminds me of scents that people wear around (department store scents I suppose) and I am not sure if those brands use particularly stinky oude but it is one of those notes that I pick out right away and gag over. Literal gag not fabulous gag.

 

Oh, oh, one more! Berries. How I adore berries in anything but fragrance! Alas, they are really weird smelling/artificial in scents (Hollywood Babylon, Lady MacBeth, etc) and I don't know if it is my chemistry or just my tastes, really.