Similarities Between BPAL Scents - GC and general discussion

[mooncityminx]

I like aunt caroline's joy mojo and eat me alot. Can someone recommend a scent along those lines?

So you like sweet scents? I like Hollywood Babylon because it has a nice strawberry and then goes more sexy. Tweedledee is also sweet and bright. And to me, Fae is very much like a fancy fruit punch.

[dronzeka]

Whitechapel=Dorian=Severin= Vampire Tears=Baobhan Sith all smell the same to me with minimal difference

Wow, chemistry is funny - I haven't tried Severin, but the rest of those all smell completely different to me! (But I can see how they'd be similar if you amp the citrus, especially - I get very little citrus from Dorian and Baobhan Sith was very pink grapefruit, unlike the lime in Whitechapel or white grapefruit in Vampire Tears.)

[smallvoice]

Whitechapel=Dorian=Severin= Vampire Tears=Baobhan Sith all smell the same to me with minimal difference

Wow, chemistry is funny - I haven't tried Severin, but the rest of those all smell completely different to me! (But I can see how they'd be similar if you amp the citrus, especially - I get very little citrus from Dorian and Baobhan Sith was very pink grapefruit, unlike the lime in Whitechapel or white grapefruit in Vampire Tears.)

 

I think of those, the closest would be Babhan Sith (which was a sharp, sharp floral on me, surprisingly) and Vampire Tears...

Dorian is super rich and sweet on me.

Whitechapel is clean and the best lime scent I've gotten my hands on.

Severin smells like nothing, to me. Seriously. It's like my nose blanks out or something.

Vampire Tears is milder than I remember Baobhan Sith being, and smoother.

Baobhan Sith has something in common with Aizen-myoo, as I recall.

 

It is amazing how our chemistries vary! I love hearing things like that.

[jizatt]

To my nose, Antikythera, Glowing Vulva, Haloes, and Aureus are all remarkably similar. Aureus is the least like the others, it doesnt have the sweet touch. Haloes is the sweetest. GV and Antikythera are very similar in my book - GV might be a tad more fem, but I love Antikythera *shrug*

 

 

 

er I know theres LE's in there - but theres Discontinued too!!

Edited August 9, 2008 by CaudaPavonis

[ivyandpeony]

...

er I know theres LE's in there - but theres Discontinued too!!

 

no worries, it fits in just fine in this thread. Sometimes I don't know which of these similarities threads to post something in I think anytime you have a long list of blends that resemble each other this thread's fine, unless maybe none of them are GC!

 

I have noticed the Glowing Vulva - Antithykera Mecanism similarity, and I will have to give Haloes a re-sniff. I haven't smelled Aureus in ages, exactly for the reason you mentioned, it was so dry on me and I am the girl with no natural sweetness. So on me it was dry wood and petroleum, which is what I get from some resins when there's no sweet stuff around. But Glowing Vulva was actually too sweet on me - go figure!

 

For those who are enjoying comparing Baobhan Sith, Vampire Tears, and Whitechapel - you should try Croquet. It's in the same family, sweet citrus with a touch of florals and a little creamy musk.

[amberdark]

I was reading the thread the other day and was reading that some of you thought Lust and Vixen were almost pretty much the same.

So I put one on each wrist to check them out on me.

I found that the Lust is much more complex on me than the Vixen is. It was like I could keep on smelling Lust and notice all these different notes in it that made me want to keep smelling it. The Vixen seemed to just be like a vanilla all the way through.

Did anyone else get that?

[hlemonds]

Recently received Xiuhtecuhtli as a frimp with a forum purchase and i LOVE it. Never would've guessed from the notes that it would be in a similar family to TM Angel, which i also really like, but Xiuhtecuhtli is BETTER! Something about the cleaner, slightly lighter feeling of Xiuhtecuhtli makes it just gorgeous and PERFECT! So, since i love Xiuhtecuhtli, are their other oils that are in the same family that i should try?

[shatteredslipper]

So, I did a search, didn't see anything that was particularly this. If it ends up being a duplicate, sorry!

 

I am utterly in love with Sea of Glass. And I have a problem. The notes aren't listed, I don't know what I'm so in love with. This has been a frustration of mine for several years now. I was hoping people could recommend similar scents that I might like. Way back when, someone recommended Bed of Nails, but being a very very old LE I can't get more than the decant imp I already have. Someone rescue me?

[sqwook]

You could try other "light and clean" scents that may have more notes listed, to see if what you like about Sea of Glass is also in those. So possibly:

 

Dirty

Squirting Cucumber

Sudha Segara

Lightning

Dormouse

The Sea Foams Milk

White Rabbit

Anubis

Unicorn

 

Or, heck, if you love Sea of Glass, just get yourself a bottle & go to town!

 

[portalkat]

It's hard to know depending upon your chemistry and what you are picking up on, but if it's the aquatic note, you might like Tempest or if it's the aquatic with floral you might also like Thalassa the Galapagos Mermaid. Someone in the reviews section said that it reminded them of Embalming Fluid, so you might want to give it a try as well. Are you just looking to find similar blends in that vein? I was just curious since Sea of Glass is still available.

[Apple]

You might try these:

Cthulhu

(Picnic in Arkham) - A creeping, wet, slithering scent, dripping with seaweed, oceanic plants and dark, unfathomable waters.

 

The Deep Ones

(Picnic in Arkham) - Black algae, drooping seaweed, salty brine, and crushed coral.

 

R'Lyeh

(Picnic in Arkham) - A hellishly dark aquatic scent, evocative of fathomless oceanic deeps, the mysteries of madness buried under crushing black waters, and the brooding eternal evil that lies beneath the waves.

 

Shattered

(Bewitching Brews) - A blend of white champagne notes, grapefruit, lotus, slivered mint and crystalline aquatic blooms.

 

Y'ha-Nthlei

(Picnic in Arkham) - A swirling, lightless, effervescent scent: the deepest marine notes with bergamot, eucalyptus and foamy ambergris.

I would put these all in the same "scent family" as Sea of Glass. Don't be put off by the descriptions of the "Picnic in Arkham" scents; they sound like they would be disgusting, but they're actually very fresh, clean scents.

 

You might also like:

The Lady of Shalott

(Ars Amatoria) - The scent of calm waters just before a raging storm, limned with achingly-beautiful blooms, an icy scent, but somehow warm, and mirror-bright: bold gardenia, crystalline musk, muguet, water blossoms, clear, slightly tart aquatic notes and a crush of white ginger.

 

Lightning

(Bewitching Brews) - Lightning slashing the midnight skies over the endless reaches of the ocean. The electric tang of ozone, marine notes, and a drop of sharp rain.

 

Olokun

(Excolo) - The glorious, unknowable gloom of the ocean floor.

 

Szepasszony

(Diabolus) - A chilly, tempestuous whirlwind of clear, airy notes, slashing rain, and a thin undercurrent of white flowers.

 

Undertow

(Bewitching Brews) - The Dark Side of Water: clean and purifying, yet menacing -- lotus and juniper with a hint of mint. A scent dragged up from the depths to the Stygian shore.

These are also clean, aquatic scents.

 

[Mrs.Black]

There are two scents that I find very similar to Sea of Glass, but unfortuntely there were both LEs. You may be able to find them on the Swaps section, though.

 

- House of Mirrors (Carnaval Noir LE)

- Archangel Winter (Yule 2007 LE)

[Glompbot]

So, I did a search, didn't see anything that was particularly this. If it ends up being a duplicate, sorry!

 

I am utterly in love with Sea of Glass. And I have a problem. The notes aren't listed, I don't know what I'm so in love with. This has been a frustration of mine for several years now. I was hoping people could recommend similar scents that I might like. Way back when, someone recommended Bed of Nails, but being a very very old LE I can't get more than the decant imp I already have. Someone rescue me?

 

Hi, I'm incredibly new to BPAL so I went a bit nuts buying random imps so I could also learn what I liked, and I also fell in love with Sea of Glass.

 

I also had another lovely 'light' smelling one Tenochtitlan which on my skin at least smelt quite similar - albeit less 'soapy'.

 

This is its description:

TENOCHTITLAN

The greatest of all Aztec cities, and capital of their empire. Amber, hyssop, coriander, epazote, Mexican sage, prickly pear and Mexican tulip poppy.

Edited July 15, 2009 by Glompbot

[shatteredslipper]

I know it's still available, and I have an old 10 mL bottle, with a 5 mL bottle on order (I was starting to get low, can't have that happen), but I like to change things up every now and then. And since the notes aren't listed and I have no idea what I'm so in love with in Sea of Glass, I figured I'd ask for suggestions on other things I'd like to try.

[jizatt]

I love all the light breezy floral/aquatics -- I second Tempest (I remember this being very close to Sea of Glass) and Szepasszony (both very soft and breezy), maybe Olokun (sweeter on the last one). Others that I have loved that have the same feel, if not actual smell - Caliban (very outdoors, saltier with a wet green)

 

a lot of the reviews for Sea of Glass seemed to sniff: ozone, grapefruit or something citrusy, and lily or lily of the valley, lilac

(it was also mentioned that this smells like Tears or Dunwich - not that that's particularly helpful to your search! but maybe for ingredients)

[Alchemist]

I was really fond of Black Swan. Please help me find a resemblence from general catalog......

 

Here are the notes:

 

Water lily, peony, seaweed absolute, lotus, Spanish moss, violet leaf, and marine accord

[lannansidhe]

Is it discontinued? Cause I have, like, 3 bottles?

[Apple]

Hrm... hopefully someone with more familiarity with Black Swan will pipe up, but the first thing that came to mind was Ophelia:

Ophelia

(Illyria) - Lotus, water blossom ivy, stargazer lily and white rose.

Have you tried these?

Amsterdam

(Wanderlust) - Tulips, peony, fresh flowing water and crisp green grasses.

 

Bruised Violet Compound

(Doc Constantine's Pharmacopoeia) - Crushed violets, red currant, patchouli root, and Spanish moss.

 

Cthulhu

(Picnic in Arkham) - A creeping, wet, slithering scent, dripping with seaweed, oceanic plants and dark, unfathomable waters.

 

Deep in Earth

(Ars Moriendi) - Rose geranium, Spanish moss, Irish yew, and graveyard dirt.

 

Destroying Angel

(Rappaccini' Garden) - Papery white notes evoke the grace of this fungi, grounded by thin, crisp soil.

 

The Dormouse

(Mad Tea Party) - A dizzying eddy of four teas brushed with light herbs and a breath of peony.

 

Ephemera

(Bewitching Brews) - Sorrowful violet and chamomile with muguet, white geranium, calla lily and tea rose with a hint of autumn leaves.

 

I Died for Beauty

(Bewitching Brews) - The Venusian splendor of ylang ylang and violet stirred by hyssop, frankincense, and grave loam.

 

The Lady of Shalott

(Ars Amatoria) - The scent of calm waters just before a raging storm, limned with achingly-beautiful blooms, an icy scent, but somehow warm, and mirror-bright: bold gardenia, crystalline musk, muguet, water blossoms, clear, slightly tart aquatic notes and a crush of white ginger.

 

Olokun

(Excolo) - His ofrenda is the scent of the lightless deep: the glorious, unknowable gloom of the ocean floor.

 

The Phantom Wooer

(Ars Moriendi) - stargazer lily, bone dust, tomb mosses, buttonweed, moonflower, and honey myrtle.

 

Squirting Cucumber

(Rappaccini's Garden) - A spurt of wet, grassy greenness.

 

Sunrise with Sea-Monsters

(Salon) - Ocean mist, kelp, ambergris, amber, white pear, osmanthus, freesia, and seafoam accord.

 

Ulalume

(Bewitching Brews) - Starry white lilies lend an eerie brightness to the deep black wooded scents of cypress and oak, layered with a touch of crushed dried leaves and the faintest aquatic note.

 

Undertow

(Bewitching Brews) - Lotus and juniper with a hint of mint.

 

Windward Passage

(Wanderlust) - Breezes blowing off of the waters of the Caribbean: marine accord, seaweed, and bladderwrack.

 

Yorick

(Illyria) - Grave dirt, bone, decay, angel's trumpet, and moldering scraps of shroud: the essence of finality.

Maybe layering two or three of these? I'm thinking (Ophelia) + (Olokun or Windward Passage) + (Bruised Violet Compound) might be similar.

 

Is there a reason you can't just get more Black Swan?

[Alchemist]

A friend of mine had gifted me the Black Swan. However, is it possible to make an international order. I think it is sold only local stores ???

[Apple]

A friend of mine had gifted me the Black Swan. However, is it possible to make an international order. I think it is sold only local stores ???

Ah, I see. Yes, that is a retail-exclusive Salon scent and not sold on the Lab's website. But I bet if you put out a request in the Wanted forum, you could find a forumite who would be willing to purchase it locally and ship it to you in exchange for the cost of the bottle and shipping.

[Mousesong]

I've become totally infatuated with Bow and Crown of Conquest. On me it's strongly carnation, with a touch of cedar, touch of sage, touch of vanilla. It's really quite indescribable, which doesn't help my quest

 

I'm wanting to try more like B+C, but I fear going on just the notes I'm heading into heavier, more masculine territory than B+C is on me. I recently bought Bathsheba off a forumite and while it's lovely, the carnation is more floral and less spice--something (maybe the lavender?) in B+C is really amping the spicy bit of the carnation. Also Bathsheba's plum (although delicious) really washed the spice into the background.

 

Anyone have any ideas? Even something that doesn't have carnation in it, but might approach that. Cinnamon makes my skin hurt unless it's just a little bit and, in any case, the spice I get from B+C's carnation is more of a clove or something. Maybe some clove scents would be worth looking into?

 

Or I could, you know. Just wait for my bottle to show

[sqwook]

I have combed through the reviews, and this is what I have discovered: (Other than I MUST add this to my wishlist...)

• like Morocco meets Black Lace
• Perversion
• Hod
• Antony
• A smoother Tombstone
• evocative of both Tombstone and Golden Priapus
• Like a partnership between Tombstone and Dorian
• kinda like Dorian and Loviatar together.
• more woodsy, less salty cousin of Jolly Roger (when wet)
• If you liked Dorian but wished it had a little more menace, you might try this.
• Dorian – only BETTER
• like Golden Priapus rubbed against a vanilla-guzzling De Sade
• like La Fee Verte mixed with Dorian in the woods
• like Antique Lace, De Sade, and Snake Oil had a threesome on my wrist
• like the bastard child of an orgy between Golden Priapus, Dee and Les Infortunes de la Vertu...I'll give you my crown of conquest, baby.

[Mousesong]

Omg that was so sweet of you you didn't have to do that!

 

Glancing at those comparisons it seems a lot of people are getting a lot of vanilla out of bow and crown *worries over bottle in the mail now* which I noticed in the reviews that I read, as well. I really get barely any vanilla at all--sometimes straight up none. Nooo what if my bottle is all vanilla?

 

I especially don't get Dee or Dorian at all. Well, okay, maybe Dee a little.

 

I've had Morocco rec'd a few times, though, and didn't notice it come up in the B+C thread, so maybe I should look into that.

 

I have combed through the reviews, and this is what I have discovered: (Other than I MUST add this to my wishlist...)

• like Morocco meets Black Lace
• Perversion
• Hod
• Antony
• A smoother Tombstone
• evocative of both Tombstone and Golden Priapus
• Like a partnership between Tombstone and Dorian
• kinda like Dorian and Loviatar together.
• more woodsy, less salty cousin of Jolly Roger (when wet)
• If you liked Dorian but wished it had a little more menace, you might try this.
• Dorian – only BETTER
• like Golden Priapus rubbed against a vanilla-guzzling De Sade
• like La Fee Verte mixed with Dorian in the woods
• like Antique Lace, De Sade, and Snake Oil had a threesome on my wrist
• like the bastard child of an orgy between Golden Priapus, Dee and Les Infortunes de la Vertu...I'll give you my crown of conquest, baby.

 

[tajana]

On the topic of carnation... because B&C is quite carnation heavy on me as well... Morocco on me is very sweet, all vanilla and sweetness, way more cloying than B&C ever is... but if your skin tones down the vanilla, maybe you'll get some of the carnation magic. Judith and Holofernes is hard to get a hold of sometimes because it's a retail only, but it has a dash of carnation and it's otherwise a very striking perfume with a very prominent sandalwood note... kind of like what I wanted Morocco to be. Ysabel has a hefty dose of clove and clovey carnation, and it also has cedar in common with B&C. Clemence also has both carnation and clove, so if you're in a spicy mood, it may be worth a try. Masquerade behaves differently on me, but on my boyfriend it is ALL spicy, spicy carnation (I'm jealous)... with some sweet orange blossom and a patchouli backdrop. As far as lighter, airier scents go, I found Maiden to have a very prominent, slightly sassy carnation note.

 

I find Bow & Crown to be very similar to Crowley in the dry-down... both are woody, vanilla-y, musky, leathery unisex colognes, but whereas I find Bow & Crown to be cool and clean, Crowley is warmer and dirtier... also sweeter. Bow & Crown vanilla isn't nearly as strong as Crowley vanilla on me. Crowley is also definitely worth a shot if you like Dee... Crowley smells like a relative of B&C, Dee, and Loviatar, with extra vanilla.

[Mousesong]

On the topic of carnation... because B&C is quite carnation heavy on me as well... Morocco on me is very sweet, all vanilla and sweetness, way more cloying than B&C ever is... but if your skin tones down the vanilla, maybe you'll get some of the carnation magic. Judith and Holofernes is hard to get a hold of sometimes because it's a retail only, but it has a dash of carnation and it's otherwise a very striking perfume with a very prominent sandalwood note... kind of like what I wanted Morocco to be. Ysabel has a hefty dose of clove and clovey carnation, and it also has cedar in common with B&C. Clemence also has both carnation and clove, so if you're in a spicy mood, it may be worth a try. Masquerade behaves differently on me, but on my boyfriend it is ALL spicy, spicy carnation (I'm jealous)... with some sweet orange blossom and a patchouli backdrop. As far as lighter, airier scents go, I found Maiden to have a very prominent, slightly sassy carnation note.

 

I find Bow & Crown to be very similar to Crowley in the dry-down... both are woody, vanilla-y, musky, leathery unisex colognes, but whereas I find Bow & Crown to be cool and clean, Crowley is warmer and dirtier... also sweeter. Bow & Crown vanilla isn't nearly as strong as Crowley vanilla on me. Crowley is also definitely worth a shot if you like Dee... Crowley smells like a relative of B&C, Dee, and Loviatar, with extra vanilla.

 

I've actually eyed Crowley multiple times, but I get the vibe that it's the "other stuff" to B+C's carnation, if that makes sense--all the things lurking behind the clovey flower smell in B+C for me. I'm going to try it eventually anyway cos it sounds sexy as hell (and Crowley!)

 

I should probably look into Morocco now that you've said that, because I kill vanilla a lot of times (which is actually quite sad to me). Dorian, on me, for example? No vanilla at all, almost. In Dorian. It's all lemon tea and sweet with a tiny bit of warm vanilla in the background. Vanilla on my skin so far has tended to become a bit of a supporting role, just rounding the edges of whatever else is in the blend.

 

Judith and Holofernes sounds gorgeous, I may have to go look into that--thank you for the rec; I never even bother to read retail only stuff

 

For some reason even though I read all the WQI descs I never noticed Ysabel's good stuffs--I may have to see if I can track down a decant somewhere. O noes!

 

Thank you for all of the ideas. Between your post and Sqwook's I feel well prepared to burn more holes in my Paypal account next month