Uncomplicated BPALs

[stellamaris]

Just to muddy the waters, what about the "garden" scents? If you like that sort of thing, they are awesome.

I love all the Honeys but especially Chokecherry Honey, which smells like a honey incense to me.

Or Black Lily or Rose, very nice simple flowers.

a simple flower too is Marie, which is rose and violet or Bruised Violet.

 

If you want a go at sweet, how about Knave of Hearts, very simple to me, I get the sharp gorgeous buttery pastry note, which is tempered by a solid but not overpowering rose. It does not morph or change.

 

or if you want to try spicy, how about The Lion, which is spicy amber. I always want this one to work on me but it never does, that said it has many fans.

[Myria Jean]

I just got my bottle of Lick It with Consent and it reminded me of this thread. It's simple and much, much prettier than I expected.

[Larinessa]

For me its Great Vampire Bat, ( Comic Con exclusive from several years ago). Incense touched Jungle Orchid. Lush and exotic.

[recklesslysober]

I'm the same way! The simple ones always work best on me.

 

For GCs, I second the recommendations for Bliss, Dana O'Shee, Eat Me, Obatala, Miskatonic University, Velvet, Vice, and Black Lily. Poisoned Apple and Squirting Cucumber are two of my other favorites.

 

For LEs, The Fruit of Paradise is the one I get the most compliments on and it's just pomegranate. I also love Gelt, El Dia De Los Reyes, Lick It with Consent, and Strawberry Sufganiyot.

[kajacana]

Obatala is one of my favorites, glad to see so many votes for it here! It's very coconutty but also just a really clean, summery scent.

 

Lolita and Whitechapel are simple, bright citruses.

 

Glasgow is blackberries & heather, very clean-smelling and not too complicated.

 

If you're into foody scents, try Grog (smells like butterscotch) or Detestable Putrescence (vanilla ice cream).

 

Good from the RPG line is light and smells simple - hard to describe, but really nice, and easy to layer.

[gentle-twig]

I have fallen in love with several of BPAL's simpler blends. I do have a few more complicated favorites, but I find that trying out blends with 2-3 notes is great for figuring out the personality of each and how that can change in different combinations. Plus there is really just a poetry to the complexity that some of these blends conjure from 2 oils.

 

Some favorites:

 

Sloth - vetiver and myrrh (probably my favorite bpal!)

Malediction - vetiver and patchouli (a little abrasive but so interesting in an almost anti-perfume way, even though these notes are both classic perfume staples)

The Cat - honey, dark musk, benzoin, and cedar (a little more complicated, but still has the personality of some of the lab's simpler blends for me. each note is clearly discernible and the interplay between them is captivating)

 

Sometimes simple blends can be a little underwhelming for me (as in the case of Anne Bonny), but often they are just magical.

[elbow]

Oh, me too, gentle-twig! My list includes Bon Vivant (strawberries + champagne), Gacela of the Dark Death (pine tar + clove), Glasgow (blackberry + rose), Jabberwocky (pine + orange + eucalyptus), Kurukulla (lotus + rose), the Lick It series (peppermint candy cane), Mars Alator (fig + vetiver), Paris (lavender + spicy lotus), Rogue (leather + hemp + rosin), Twenty One (martini), Undertow (lotus + juniper + mint), and Whip (leather + rose).

 

I've only tried one Single Note (if you don't count Pumpkin Spice Everything ). It was White Sage, and I fell head-over-heels for it! But that's a different thread....