♥ Alternatives to [ The Unicorn ]

[Xylis]

_{First things first, I'm so sorry if there has been a similar thread. I did attempt a search, but couldn't find what I was looking for specifically. If this is a repeated thread, I sincerely apologize!}

 

So long story short, I'm a returning BPAL semi-addict. I used to hoard scents but got side-tracked along the way and was complacent that I had (what I foolishly thought was) quite a large supply of The Unicorn. I didn't foresee that it would get discontinued, and now that my stash is depleted, I need to find a new grail scent.

 

A misty, almost luminous perfume: wispy linden blossoms, white flowers, and a touch of sweet herbs.

 

The problem is, I'm not really sure what are the exact notes that make me love The Unicorn so. I'm quite a scent ignoramus so I'm mostly unfamiliar with most scent notes other than the obvious ones like rose, vanilla, lavender etc. It's not a very green scent on me; it's mostly a light, ethereal and sweet floral. I'm going to hazard a guess that I like the linden blossoms since they're one of the primary florals listed in the description, but I can't seem to find another BPAL scent that has these. (Hopefully I just haven't been searching hard enough).

 

I would be soooo grateful for recommendations of scents that are similar to The Unicorn, (preferably something that won't get discontinued too soon). I don't visit the forums very often and most of the time, I end up missing out on sales of the The Unicorn, sadly enough.

 

If it's any help, here are other scents / notes I like:

 

♥ Fairy Market (alas, another one out of my grasp)

♥ Titania

♥ Boo

♥ Dorian

♥ TKO

♥ Whip

♥ Snowbunny (don't like the sharpness of the beginning though)

♥ Hope & Faith

♥ Pink Snowballs

 

♥ Basically most scents that are light and/or sweet, although I tend to veer more towards floral rather than gourmand sweetness.

 

and scents / notes that didn't work for me:

 

♥ Sacred Whore of Babylon

♥ Snake Oil (alas!)

♥ Silk Road

 

♥ Incense

♥ Anything too green (stem-like)

♥ Anything too woody

♥ Honey (this is something I suspect, but haven't actually proven conclusively)

 

I know I have rather varied taste, but nothing on that list has ever really come closer to my heart (and nose) than The Unicorn. I haven't really been keeping up to date with the recent BPAL scents either, so anything beyond 2011/2012 is probably going to be foreign to me.

 

I'd really appreciate all the help I can get! ♥

 

 

-------------------------------------

 

I decided to compile a list of recommendations from this thread, not only for my reference, but hopefully it'll help someone else who might have similar taste preferences as me and would like to discover new lovelies! (I've linked the scents to their review thread).

 

 

♥ Almond Blossom - Almond blossom, hoar-frost, and snow-wind.

 

♥ Blossoms in Springtime - Vanilla bean and vanilla blossom, golden honey, antiqued amber, beeswax, copal, lotus blossom, and helichrysum.

 

♥ Boober - freshly-washed laundry, linden blossom, soap suds, and a sprinkle of vanilla.

 

♥ Chaste Moon 2010 - Milky blossoms and soft cream touch the last buds of winter, coupled with crystalline, hazy traditional Lunar oils.

 

♥ Coraline Jones - Dry grass, clean skin, and a little bit of mossy berry.

 

♥ Cottonmouth - Snake Oil with linden blossom, calla lily, passion flower, and narcissus.

 

♥ The East - bluebonnet, passion flower, freesia, jasmine tea, mint, thyme, and redcurrant.

 

♥ Elf - Pale golden musk, honeycomb, amber, parma violet, hawthorne bark, aspen leaf, forest lily, life everlasting, white moss, and a hint of wild berry.

 

♥ Enchanted Wood Forest - A burst of sweet, strange flowers, luminous Moon-tree sap, and ornamental grasses.

 

♥ Go to Sleep, Darlings - 
Kiss-soft clouds of spun-sugar snow.

 

♥ High Strung Daisies - Daisy, pink carnation, pink pepper, and sugar.

 

♥ Kyoto - cherry blossom, white sandalwood and star anise.

 

♥ Lady in Speckled Kimono - Peony blossoms and vanilla orchid.

 

♥ Leanan Sidhe - Her perfume is a crush of Irish herbs and flowers, Gaelic mists, and nighttime dew.

 

♥ Mouse's Long and Sad Tale - Vanilla, two ambers, sweet pea and white sandalwood.

 

♥ Maiden - white tea, carnation and Damask Rose.

 

♥ Rosalind - Dew-covered berries and fresh green grasses with a faint breath of spring flowers.

 

♥ The Silver Stream - Like asphodel petals on moonlit water.

 

♥ Snow White - virgin snow, crisp winter wind and the faintest breath of night-blooming flowers.

 

♥ The Penitent Magdalen - Immortelle, lily of the valley, gaiac, amber, honey, white sandalwood, almond flower, blonde musk, and hyssop.

 

♥ The Wild Swans at Coole - Falling leaves breaking the stillness of cool water, with sweet autumn clematis, feather-soft orris root, luminous white chypre, and muguet.

 

 

Edited March 3, 2014 by Xylis

[skyelyric]

I never smelled The Unicorn, but for a light, sweet, true floral, I love The East. It's like standing in a meadow in early summer. Elf is another sweet clean floral-esque scent to me.

[Floria]

Have you tried Maiden? (white tea, carnation, and damask rose) The white tea leaf gives it a pretty dewy quality. (At least in the bottle. I amp rose, so I'm afraid on my skin it's more robust, but ymmv.)

[Monday]

The Unicorn was mainly linden on my skin. Unfortunately linden isn't a note that you see a lot in the GC. Boober has linden blossom listed as a note: A fretfully clean scent: freshly-washed laundry, linden blossom, soap suds, and a sprinkle of vanilla.

[Usagi]

As a fellow lover of the Unicorn, nothing I've tried has been an exact match for its loveliness (either in BPAL, or the other brands I've dabbled in).

The two that have come closest might not be the greatest help to you, as one is another DC, and the other, an LE from a couple years ago (though I have seen it for sale a few times).

 

Rosalind (Dew-covered berries and fresh green grasses with a faint breath of spring flowers.) is more berriful, but has the same luminous, soft green forest glade feeling.

 

Enchanted Wood Florist (A burst of sweet, strange flowers, luminous Moon-tree sap, and ornamental grasses.) smells like magical, tropical Unicorn.

 

Anyway, good luck on your quest! I hope you can find another scent to love as much as the Unicorn.

[Lorelai1945]

I totally second the recommendation of The East- it's lovely. I liked Fairy Market a lot too, and I remember The East being similar in feel, just more "blue" floral if that makes any sense at all.

 

If you haven't tried Snow White, I feel like that is a must for you. This year's Yules also had Go to Sleep, Darlings, which is similar. If you can track it down, you may want to find Klara, which was a Yule a couple of years ago- it is beautiful if you don't mind a soft rose.

 

You mentioned honey not working for you- I didn't think it worked for me either until I tried Alice. It's so nice on I think it would be worth trying. Also High-Strung Daisies and Mouse's Long and Sad Tale could work. HSD is a very pretty light, sweet floral.

 

These may not all be similar to The Unicorn, but hopefully they are in the same light, sweet vein for you.

 

ETA: You may want to check out all the Lupers/Shungas- many are also light florals. Lady in Speckled Pink Kimono and Blossoms in Springtime come to mind from past Shungas.

Edited February 10, 2014 by VioletFemme

[ModderRhu]

This isn't the most accessible option, but you might try Cottonmouth if you can get your hands on it. Even though you don't like Snake Oil. I barely get any Snake Oil at all out of mine, just pure linden. It smells very much like The Unicorn to me. I got mine from a BPAL Etsy sale. I'm not sure if it's ever gonna pop up there again, though.

 

Maybe try Kyoto? If you don't mind a touch of anise. It's got that clean/innocent/dewy/floaty floral quality in common with The Unicorn.

 

Good luck!

[Xylis]

Oooh thank you all so much for your help!! All these recommendations sound great and I'm definitely excited to try them. Even if I can't find a Unicorn duplicate, hopefully I'll be able to discover a new favourite scent.

 

@skyelyric; I just read the scent description for the East and I think I'm in love already. I don't know why I thought the scent was discontinued as well, but I'm really happy to see that it's still around for now. I'm excited to try Elf as well; it does help that I love RPG. ♥ Thank you!

 

@Floria; I think Maiden has been on my list of imps to try but somehow I never got down to it. I love rose but I'm a little wary of carnation; still, I'm going to see if I can get an imp of this! Thank you for the recommendation!

 

@Monday; Boober sounds absolutely amazing! In fact, I'm going to add it to my DISO list if I can't manage to find an imp for sale at the marketplace. In fact, the entire Fraggle Rock collection sounds amazing, thank you for bringing my attention to it!

 

@Usagi; Rosalind and Enchanted Wood Forest both sound wonderful! I'll definitely add them on my list of scents to hunt. I really like the sound of berries in Rosalind since I adored them in Snow Bunny. Thank you! ♥

 

@VioletFemme; All those recommendations sound like they could be right up my alley! I think I've been missing out on a good number of Yules thus far, and I need to remedy that. c: I believe I have an imp of HSD somewhere but never really got down to trying it. I'll have to give that a whirl! I'll check out the Shungas as well. Thank you soooo much!

 

@ModderRhu; Oh how I envy you! I wanted to love Snake Oil so badly, but my skins hates it. I might give it a second go if I ever find an imp for sale though! Kyoto and Cottonmouth both sound like scents I'd like to try so they're going on my list! Thank you!! ♥

Edited February 11, 2014 by Xylis

[fuzziefaerie]

@ Xylis- you and I seem to have similar taste. I'm still fairly new and I've never smelled The Unicorn, but here are some of my favorites:

 

White Rabbit (my HG scent!): Strong black tea and milk with white pepper, ginger, honey and vanilla, spilled over the crisp scent of clean linen.

 

The Last Unicorn (It smells better with time): Frosty lilac petals, iris pallida root, orris, violet leaf, white chocolate, coconut, wild lettuce, white sandalwood, and oakmoss.

 

Pink Snowballs (Love!): chilly vanilla rose snowballs

 

Snow White (Again, smells better with time): A chilly, bright perfume: flurries of virgin snow, crisp winter wind and the faintest breath of night-blooming flowers

 

Go To Sleep, Darlings (Should've gotten a back up): kiss-soft clouds of spun-sugar snow

 

Dana O'Shee (Smells like oatmeal and honey soap, in a good way): milk, honey and sweet grains

 

Maiden (I had to grow to love this one, but I might be getting a bottle): white tea, carnation and Damask Rose.

 

Alice (depending on my mood): Milk and honey with rose, carnation and bergamot.

 

Don't know if that helps, but I'm glad to know there's someone with similar taste. Have fun searching!

[Xylis]

@fuzziefaerie; Yay! I love it when I find someone with similar scent preferences. ♥ All those recommendations sound so awesome, and I'l definitely going to be adding them down to my ever-increasing list of scents to try. Unfortunately, I've come to suspect that it's the carnation note that hates my skin because so far Alice, Maiden and High Strung Daisies have been scents that ought to have worked on me but didn't. The one note that they have in common is carnation so it's probably the culprit (since it's that same nasty smell across all 3 of them).

 

I am sooo excited to try everything carnation-free though! I'm especially dying to get my paws on Go To Sleep, Darlings because it sounds so beautiful. I loved The Last Unicorn movie so that scent has always been on the back of my mind although I'm a little nervous of the sandalwood and lettuce. Still, I'd probably have to pick up an imp of that some day! I love that Dana O' Shee and White Rabbit are GCs; hopefully they'll work so I can easily replenish my suppy!

 

Thanks again for your lovely recommendations! ♥

[Sakura Tsukikage]

You seem to have pretty similar taste to me, too--I too, love The Unicorn and pine after more of it, and adore the linden blossom note.

 

It's not quite as soft and delicate and fresh as the linden blossom, but I've also really enjoyed the lab's almond blossom notes. A little more robust and thick/waxy in feel, but I found both the recent Yule Almond Blossom and the Salon blend The Penitent Magdalen really lovely and soft in a similar "white" way to the Unicorn, though sadly not as fresh.

 

Almond Blossom

Almond blossom, hoar-frost, and snow-wind.

 

The Penitent Magdalen

Immortelle, lily of the valley, gaiac, amber, honey, white sandalwood, almond flower, blonde musk, and hyssop.

 

The Halloween blend a bit ago, The Wild Swans at Coole, also reminded me a bit of The Unicorn:

 

October twilight. Falling leaves breaking the stillness of cool water, with sweet autumn clematis, feather-soft orris root, luminous white chypre, and muguet.

 

Chaste Moon 2010 also reminds me of it just a bit! It's not very milky.

 

Milky blossoms and soft cream touch the last buds of winter, coupled with crystalline, hazy traditional Lunar oils.

 

In the GC, maybe Leanan Sidhe? It reminds me of both The Unicorn and Rosalind (another DCed love of mine).

 

Her perfume is a crush of Irish herbs and flowers, Gaelic mists, and nighttime dew.

 

There's also Coraline Jones (Dry grass, clean skin, and a little bit of mossy berry) and The Silver Stream (Like asphodel petals on moonlit water) in the Coraline scents.

 

I don't know if there's anything quite like it, but those are a few ideas . . . .

 

A few other personal favorites of mine in the BPAL catalogue are Kumiho (A sharp, biting blend of crisp white tea and ginger--though this one might not be sweet enough for your taste? It's not that biting, though!), Roses, Pearls and Diamonds (Red roses, dazzling crystalline musks, and pearlescent coconut-tinged orris), and Aizen-Myoo (Yuzu, kaki, and mikan with cherry blossom and black tea). Just in case our tastes really are that similar! Though it seems yours swing a bit sweeter than mine!

 

Also, a couple of the prototypes up on BPAL's Etsy site right now have been compared to The Unicorn! I have Dido v1 and I do think there's a similarity. The Empyreal Mist proto and the Gossamer proto might also work in that vein!

Edited March 1, 2014 by Sakura Tsukikage

[Xylis]

Ooh thank you so much for those lovely recommendations, Sakura! c: It's always lovely to find someone with similar scent preferences. You've brought my attention to a great number of blends that I haven't actually looked at yet and I'm really excited to try some of them. I have am imp of Coraline Jones on the way and am more excited to try it than ever. I really like the sound of Leanan Sidhe as well, especially since it's a GC blend. I'm actually really hoping to find something I adore that will be a little more reliable / easier to find. I've also been tempted to try Aizen-Myoo, Roses, Pearls and Diamonds as well as Almond Blossom.

 

I'm going to note down your recommendations now. ♥ Thanks again!

[Sakura Tsukikage]

Ooh thank you so much for those lovely recommendations, Sakura! c: It's always lovely to find someone with similar scent preferences. You've brought my attention to a great number of blends that I haven't actually looked at yet and I'm really excited to try some of them. I have am imp of Coraline Jones on the way and am more excited to try it than ever. I really like the sound of Leanan Sidhe as well, especially since it's a GC blend. I'm actually really hoping to find something I adore that will be a little more reliable / easier to find. I've also been tempted to try Aizen-Myoo, Roses, Pearls and Diamonds as well as Almond Blossom.

 

I'm going to note down your recommendations now. ♥ Thanks again!

 

Yes, it's always fun to find someone with similar taste! It makes sense that you want something a bit more reliable/easier to find. I think Leanan Sidhe is actually probably the closest; it has that dewy misty quality. I haven't tried Glasgow, but it seems like it might be in the same vein with more berry. I also really like the Sea Foams Milk for a fresh, light sort of scent, but the milk note doesn't work on everyone. It fills some of the same scent niche the Unicorn does for me, though, if that makes any sense.

 

I really really love Aizen-Myoo and Roses, Pearls and Diamonds! They're so sparkly and flowery and light and sweet. Which tends to be my tastes . I hope you find something you really love that's easily accessible, too.

 

It also struck me that if you like the smell of lilac at all, The Lilac Wood in The Last Unicorn collection is really lovely, and has a lot of that same misty/dewy/green grass feeling. I'm excited to find out if you find something you love!

Edited March 3, 2014 by Sakura Tsukikage

[Xylis]

Sparkly, flowery, light and sweet are right up my alley! Now I've just got to try those!

 

Glasgow and Sea Foams Milk sound amazing as well. I haven't really tried a real milky blend before, so I'm pretty intrigued. Hopefully it works on me! I actually have an imp of Lilac Wood sailing over to me as a token from a lovely seller. *squee* I'm not sure I like lilacs since I haven't really been acquainted with them yet, but will know soon! It'd be amazing if it works, since I love The Last Unicorn.

[Sakura Tsukikage]

Sparkly, flowery, light and sweet are right up my alley! Now I've just got to try those!

 

Glasgow and Sea Foams Milk sound amazing as well. I haven't really tried a real milky blend before, so I'm pretty intrigued. Hopefully it works on me! I actually have an imp of Lilac Wood sailing over to me as a token from a lovely seller. *squee* I'm not sure I like lilacs since I haven't really been acquainted with them yet, but will know soon! It'd be amazing if it works, since I love The Last Unicorn.

 

I love the smell of lilacs, but it's so hard to find a "true" lilac scent, something that actually smells like them to me--and that one does! (Since I love The Last Unicorn, too, I was thrilled.) I hope the milk works out on you, too. It sounds like you're going to have tons to try! Woohoo!

[laslibres]

Try The Zieba Tree! It's a really light, almost misty floral, with a touch of green...I don't know if I've ever tried the Unicorn, but based on the notes it sounds very similar.

 

Prague or Amsterdam are other nice ones for light, fresh florals, with a touch of almost aquatic (but not obnoxious, sleazy-cologne-aquatic). Those two smelled like being in a garden and were really lovely, to me.

[Xylis]

I love the smell of lilacs, but it's so hard to find a "true" lilac scent, something that actually smells like them to me--and that one does! (Since I love The Last Unicorn, too, I was thrilled.) I hope the milk works out on you, too. It sounds like you're going to have tons to try! Woohoo!

 

I finally got to try both The Lilac Wood and The Last Unicorn and am currently in love with both blends! They're pretty different from The Unicorn, but both are such evocative and beautiful blends that I will probably be hunting down bottles eventually. c: I've found a new love for lilacs and while they're not as sweet as linden blossoms to me, there's this wistful beauty about them which I adore. Yay for discovering new loves! ♥

 

 

Try The Zieba Tree! It's a really light, almost misty floral, with a touch of green...I don't know if I've ever tried the Unicorn, but based on the notes it sounds very similar.Prague or Amsterdam are other nice ones for light, fresh florals, with a touch of almost aquatic (but not obnoxious, sleazy-cologne-aquatic). Those two smelled like being in a garden and were really lovely, to me.

 

I've actually tried The Zieba Tree before, but sadly, I can't wear sandalwood or resin on my skin at all. But I do agree that the notes sound promisingly reminiscent of The Unicorn so hopefully it'll work on others! :c Prague and Amsterdam both sound lovely though, particularly Amsterdam because I just love peonies. I have to try those some time! Thank you so much for the recs!

[Sakura Tsukikage]

I love the smell of lilacs, but it's so hard to find a "true" lilac scent, something that actually smells like them to me--and that one does! (Since I love The Last Unicorn, too, I was thrilled.) I hope the milk works out on you, too. It sounds like you're going to have tons to try! Woohoo!

 

I finally got to try both The Lilac Wood and The Last Unicorn and am currently in love with both blends! They're pretty different from The Unicorn, but both are such evocative and beautiful blends that I will probably be hunting down bottles eventually. c: I've found a new love for lilacs and while they're not as sweet as linden blossoms to me, there's this wistful beauty about them which I adore. Yay for discovering new loves! ♥

 

 

I'm so glad you like them! Yeah, sadly they're not really the same, but they are lovely in their own right. I looove the lilacs in The Lilac Wood so much. I'm so pleased you enjoyed them, too!