Similarities Between BPAL Scents - GC and general discussion

[Neko]

Decadence is just like Snake Oil with a little chocolate-orange and rum tossed in.

[byrdie]

Tombstone and Aureus - both Bewitching Brews -- seem to come from the same sweet woodsmoke family. Tombstone's sassafrass scent is a thicker sweetness, though, so I find myself using it more sparingly.

 

This is an excellent thread, by the way. I've added a new column to my BPAL spreadsheet.

Edited November 6, 2004 by byrdie

[Mayfair]

Excellent thread! Does anyone have recommendations for scents similar to Bewitched? I love the berries with the green touch, but found Bordello a touch too heavy. Any other nice berry scents?

Edited November 7, 2004 by Mayfair

[fallow deer]

Hi Mayfair

 

Rosalind is quite similar to Bewitched, I found - a little greener and lighter though. You might also like Jester which is rather sweeter than Bewitched and quite appley.

[Shollin]

Old Glasgow might be worth a look. The same sort of berry, but decidedly chilly where Bordello is sultry-warm.

[Neko]

In my opinion Tzadikim Nistarim smells quite a bit like Kuang Shi. They both are predominantly sweet fruit + wood. However, Tzadikim Nistarim has a much milder dry down.

[Ishtar]

I have a whole list since I am trying to downsize my collection at the moment. I listed everything that is very similar to other scents and therefore seldom gets worn.

 

Right now, I am having a hard time of deciding which one to keep since they are very, very similar on my skin:

- Old Shangai and Baobhan Sith

- Kali and Mata-Hari

- O, Jezebel and La Petite Mort

 

Other scents that smell or "feel" similar to me:

- Dana O'Shee, Queen of Sheba and Sudha Segara

- Black Phoenix and Voodoo

- Mercury and Wrath

- Megaera, Queen Mab and Kitsune-Tsuki

- Scherezade, Wanton and Spellbound

- Cancer and Psyche

- Tintagel and Lady MacBeth

- Kuang Shi, Katharina and Fae

Edited November 15, 2004 by Ishtar

[luxuria]

I love Dragon's Milk but whenever I sniff my wrist I keep thinking it would be completely divine with some cinnamon. Is there anything like that? I don't want anything really SPICY or less sweet.

 

Speaking of "sweet"..what are some other sweet oils that are in no way floral? I really hate florals, no matter how much I try to convince myself I might like one.

[Ina Garten Davita]

Hollywood Babylon is creamy and sweet without being floral.

[tart]

Try these, I love them all:

Velvet

Bliss

Alice

Dana O'shee

[tart]

Oh, and get yourself some Snake Oil. Dragon's Milk is what Snake Oil smells like to me once all of the spice wears off.

[fallow deer]

I The Apothecary.

 

It is beautiful, clean, calm and rather serious. I imagine it wearing horn-rimmed glasses.

 

I'm looking for scents with a similar feel. Not necessarily other 'clean' scents; I've tried Embalming Fluid, Baobhan Sith, Kumiho and Old Shanghai and do like them, but I'm looking for something a little bit more earthy and, well, serious

 

Anyone who likes The Apothecary too - any suggestions?

[Eldritch]

I find Severin to be my studious serious scent. It shares the tea notes with Apothecary. It's more lemony and stringent, but it has that serious scholar air. Good for grad school crunch times.

[hypothermya]

The Hermit is a good scent to try. Very similar to The Apothecary, only...no fig notes that I can tell.

[fallow deer]

Ok, great - I'll put The Hermit on my imp list.

 

Ooh - I forgot Severin! I have tried it, actually, and you're right - the leather does ground the citrus and give it a bit more solemnity. It's on my 5ml list already !

[Ishtar]

Perversion is like a sweeter, deeper Rapture on me.

[Penance]

Okay, I'm looking for some very strong cedar scents. So far, the ones I've tried that either have cedar in them for sure or smelled cedary have been...

 

Capricorn (loved it)

Magus (wished it was drier smelling, but nice)

Tombstone (liked it)

Umbra (loved it)

Alecto (liked it)

Damnation (my all time favorite)

Lex Talionis (bordering between liking it and thinking it's just okay)

Kathmandu (loved it)

Lust (for some reason it smelled cedary on me and I loved it)

 

Now, I can't wear scents with any of the following in them: amber (turns to sour milk on me), almonds (make me sick as a dog), civet (just plain old don't like it), carnation (makes me sick) and I just plain old don't care for florals or citrus (except grapefruit).

 

So far, the Lab has the following (that I haven't tried) listed as having cedar in them and I need advice on them (and any others that I might not know about, like the Tarot oils which don't have descriptions):

 

Allegory (has civet in it, so it's probably out)

Eidolon (has bergamot in it and I don't do citrus)

Namaste (has lemon verbena and I don't do citrus)

Shadow (this would be perfect apart from the lemon, which has scared me off entirely)

Cordelia (lemon again)

Goneril (don't like florals)

Lear (this one's a possibility)

 

The only one that seems to be a real possibility is Lear. All the others either have something in them I'm allergic to or that I just plain old hate. If the citrus or florals aren't prominent, I could probably pull them off, but that's where the advice part comes in...I need to know if I'm going to be able to smell those notes as well as the cedar. I don't do lemon at all, so anything that I can even remotely smell lemon in is out.

 

Other things I love are patchouli, sandalwood and other earthy/woodsy scents.

 

If anyone has any suggestions apart from the ones I've listed or has comments on the ones that I haven't tried yet, especially Lear, in terms of cedar content and the other notes, I'd love to hear them. I'd especially be interested in finding out if there are any tarot or astrological oils that smell like cedar apart from Capricorn.

 

Thanks, guys!

Edited November 25, 2004 by Penance

[fallow deer]

Lear is very dry cedar, with a touch of sage. It's my boyfriends fave. I find it a bit too dry to be mine, but I do quite like it.

 

He may not miss an imp if you'd like to try it

[silverangel]

Namaste didn't smell like lemon or citrus on me at ALL and lemon usually LOVES me! (I.e. June Gloom) It was pure myrrh smelling on me but that may just be my chemistry, try it out.

[Morrighana]

Ugh. Cedar HATES me. The only scent I've ever had in which it has behaved is Alecto, which I love to death, but on me it is much more Raspberry leaf than cedar.

 

Have you tried Fire of Love? I tried it this morning, and it is VERY cedary on me, so it went straight to my swaps pile.

 

Other than that, one that you haven't mentioned is Cathedral, which was very cedary on me, as well. I almost kept that one, too, because several hours after application I was left with the most GORGEOUS hot candle wax scent, but I couldn't abide by the cedar in the end. Sounds like it might be your cup o' tea!

[Diana]

thought Blood Kiss would be my poor man's F'54, as I've said in other posts...I agree with spark -- if you can deal with the vetiver, give it a try.

 

I did get an imp of this. I really liked it at first... and then not so much. I don't know if it was the vetiver or something else (something kind of musty and ... rank), but I didn't want it on anymore! Icky.

 

Now I'm on a hunt for a Gemini replacement. Hee hee. Oddly enough, it smells almost exactly like an oil I had hand blended for myself at a pagan festival several years ago. Now all I have is a tiny imp and a dream.

[wolfie13]

Bloodlust and Wrath smell very similar on me.

 

And Dragon's Heart is close to these two as well.

[pekeana]

Yemaya and Titania have a similar almost-melony fruitiness about them.

Edited November 30, 2004 by pekeana

[diabolique]

I think diabolique got into the absinthe again.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.

 

i was wondering where that post went to! i meant to post it in the gingerbread cookie thread where someone posted a link to "make" gingerbread cookies online. i guess i put it in the wrong thread. HAHAHAHA.

 

i'll try not to be off topic again. i think yerevan and king of spades are very similar, in that over-ripe fruit kind of smell, and that they're both very light. king of spades has the coconut smell, though.

[pekeana]

You should definitely try (Old) Kathmandu. It was all cedar on me.

 

Have you tried Magus yet? It's not strong cedar, but it's freaking lovely cedar.