Limited editions equivalents in the general catalog?

[mrsveteran]

Gryphon, have you tried Eat Me? (Either the "real" one or the proto v6?) I believe it has black currant ... haven't smelled Sugar Moon, so I don't know how alike or not they are...

[Blood onmy hands]

Am wearing Sugar Moon 2008 today and it is teh yum! The funny thing is, I have NO idea why I bought it, because the notes aren't in my usual repertoire ... which clearly means I need to branch out! Can anyone suggest some similar scents in the general catalog? Sugar Moon notes are: sugar cane, blue musk, mahogany, black orchid, black currant, violet, blackberry leaf, strawberry, and dusky rose.

 

Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?

 

There's nothing in the GC that I think smells a lot like Sugar Moon, but you might try:

*Florence (Wanderlust) - "The pearl of the Italian Renaissance. Elegant iris, bright berries, gilded amber and velvety spices." Has a similar, sweet fruity-floral feel.

 

Maybe something like Mania, Hollywood Babylon, or Eat Me if you like the sweet fruitiness of Sugar Moon.

 

And you might want to check out The Rose and Roses Pearls & Diamonds in Marchen, or Hope & Faith from the Carnaval, if you liked the sweetened rose-floral part of Sugar Moon.

[Corvus Corax]

Are there any GC scents that smell similar to Hellion?

[Gryphon]

MrsVeteran and Little Bird, you all must by psychic (or I am!) because yesterday I fished Eat Me out of my bottle stash and wore it for the first time in ,, well, forever! As the day went on, I kept getting whiffs that were just lovely, but not the full-on pastry that I was expecting. And yes, it did somehow remind me of Sugar Moon!

 

I will definitely look up Florence, Mania, and Hollywood Babylon, too! Thanks so much.

 

[naeelah]

Hmm. The original Sugar Moon went really dry on my skin, with pronounced blue musk. The flowers and fruit were subdued. Personally, I don't find it similar to Eat Me at all. If I were looking for a dupe, the blue musk would be my primary search filter. Something that's blue musk (or "night musk" or similar) with light florals, maybe layered with Sugar Skull, should be up the same alley.

 

Rozpustnica, from the retail only salons, might be a good candidate for layering with Sugar Skull. (I know that's two not so readily available recommendations, but that's all I got...)

[Blood onmy hands]

Are there any GC scents that smell similar to Hellion?

 

They don't share a ton of similar listed notes, but I think that Tombeur (especially aged) has a feel that's very similar to Hellion.

*Tombeur (VILF) - "Deadly and seductive: vanilla-infused sandalwood, blood musk, antique patchouli, vetiver, lavender, bitter almond, amber, and a trickle of Snake Oil."

 

I think that Countess Willie has a similar feel as well, though I find it to be sweeter than Hellion.

*Countess Willie (The District) - "Chocolate plum musk, red musk, amaretto, candied fruits, and red ginger."

 

And there are these for more plum scents:

*Bathsheba (Ars Amatoria) - "Her scent is breathtakingly lovely, exotic and powerfully sensual in its innocence: carnation, sensual plum, and Arabian musk."

*Frumious Bandersnatch (Mad Tea Party) - "Bandersnatch musk, redolent of spicy carnations, wild plums and chrysanthemum." Spicy, dark plum.

*Snap-Dragon-Fly (Mad Tea Party) - "Plum pudding, holly, and brandy-soaked raisin with frumenty, mince pie, and a hint of suet." More of a creamy, soft plum.

 

And if you're interested in tracking down other LEs that aren't quite as expensive/rare as Hellion:

*Makhanitas (Lupercalia 09) - "Black plum, burgundy wine, sandalwood, and champaca."

[Gryphon]

Hmm. The original Sugar Moon went really dry on my skin, with pronounced blue musk. The flowers and fruit were subdued. Personally, I don't find it similar to Eat Me at all. If I were looking for a dupe, the blue musk would be my primary search filter. Something that's blue musk (or "night musk" or similar) with light florals, maybe layered with Sugar Skull, should be up the same alley.

 

Rozpustnica, from the retail only salons, might be a good candidate for layering with Sugar Skull. (I know that's two not so readily available recommendations, but that's all I got...)

 

Wow, not a lot of blue musk in the GC! A search of reviews turned up Night Raven and Old Demons (both from the Marchen series) as possibilities, though. I should have qualified my question, or perhaps posted it in a different thread, since I'd like to try scents that are evocative of Sugar Moon. I find that I tend to select the same notes over and over again, and finding one that I like (Sugar Moon) that includes notes that are outside of my comfort zone was a welcome change. Thanks again, to all, for the suggestions. Now ... I think I may have an imp of Sugar Skull around here somewhere ....!

[stellans]

Old Demons is a lovely musk blend, and is on my "Want a Bottle" list. Night Raven, on the other hand, had too much jasmine and that was all I could smell in the imp, and then on my skin it did what jasmine usually does: turned sour and nasty.

[Fefferbella]

Is there anything that smells similar to Voyeurs Among the Cherry Blossoms.

I re-discovered my partial bottle and it's become my summer "go-to" scent but it's so hard to find people willing to part with a bottle.

[naeelah]

Wow, not a lot of blue musk in the GC! A search of reviews turned up Night Raven and Old Demons (both from the Marchen series) as possibilities, though. I should have qualified my question, or perhaps posted it in a different thread, since I'd like to try scents that are evocative of Sugar Moon. I find that I tend to select the same notes over and over again, and finding one that I like (Sugar Moon) that includes notes that are outside of my comfort zone was a welcome change. Thanks again, to all, for the suggestions. Now ... I think I may have an imp of Sugar Skull around here somewhere ....!

 

Yeah, blue musk is a kinda rare note. I like it, though, because it's so unusual. Sugar Moon 08 didn't work for me, but the new one is doing much better. (Comparing notes, I think I can chalk that up to the absence of mahogany on the new one.) It's one of those weird scents that doesn't remind me of many others, although since '11 doesn't have blue musk, it's easier to imitate.

 

Have you tried Peacocks? (Also a retail only salon.) I find it in a similar family: good balance of light floral, light fruit, and other dry notes -- plus, it has sugar cane. Just from sniffing, I was under the impression it might have blue musk, because it has a similar peculiar quality. It must be the way the asian pear blends with the white musk, on my skin.

 

 

For some LE options:

The Emathides and Under the Harvest Moon are a little bit similar (to each other), and also kind scents with a peculiar lunar glow. Both are heavy with lavender, and thanks to these blends, I'm now a lavender fan. They aren't subs for Sugar Moon, but they're vaguely in the same spectrum. (I'd say Under the Harvest Moon is the more Sugar Moon-like one.) For another scent similar to the Emathides, try On Darkness.

 

 

Ooh, you should also try Penumbra! Penumbra is one of those magical blends that's way more than the sum of its parts. It shouldn't work for me, but it does.

 

 

Trying to think of GC stuff, but there just isn't much...

[Penance]

Not exactly an LE, but I find Magic, Do as You Will to be a poor man's version of Voodoo Queen, minus the spice. It's slightly drier, but the dark fruit and incense/resins are along the same lines.

 

Add a little Arachne of Lydia and you'd have a fairly reasonable replacement for Voodoo Queen. At least the way Voodoo Queen smells on me, anyway. Everyone's skin chemistry is different and I may not get notes that other people do and vice versa. But I thought I'd throw it out there since we all know how pricy Voodoo Queen is (especially me since I just dropped some big money on a bottle from the Lab's eBay auctions).

 

And on the same note (and I'm sure this has been mentioned before in reviews, if not in here), Devil's Night is like a poor man's Storyville. I have a bottle of Devil's Night 2006 and that's what I'm basing this on. I tried 2005's version when it came out, but can't remember how similar it was, and I haven't tried the other years, so they may or may not be equally good replacements. I sometimes wear Devil's Night instead of Storyville on less than special occasions where I want a similar sort of scent without dipping into The Precious.

 

Neither one is a perfect replacement, of course, and they may not smell fairly similar on you, but it's worth a shot if you can't afford or don't want to pay the price for a bottle of Storyville or Voodoo Queen.

[chaismolokom]

Fefferbella: Voyeurs is one of my favorites, but it seems pretty unique among the BPAL cherry blossom scents I've tested. Most tend to be paired with a fruit note rather than vanilla musk/oakmoss deliciousness (although that's complete love for me, too!). What's your favorite thing about the scent?

 

 

For some LE options:

The Emathides and Under the Harvest Moon are a little bit similar (to each other), and also kind scents with a peculiar lunar glow. Both are heavy with lavender, and thanks to these blends, I'm now a lavender fan. They aren't subs for Sugar Moon, but they're vaguely in the same spectrum. (I'd say Under the Harvest Moon is the more Sugar Moon-like one.) For another scent similar to the Emathides, try On Darkness.

 

 

Ooh, you should also try Penumbra! Penumbra is one of those magical blends that's way more than the sum of its parts. It shouldn't work for me, but it does.

 

 

Trying to think of GC stuff, but there just isn't much...

 

Wow, I love all of those - like, top 15 love. I'm going to have to add Sugar Moon to my wishlist, aren't I?

[Poenari]

I've been wearing my (well-aged) bottle of Lawn Gnome, and it's such a great summer scent! Does anyone have some suggestions for a similar scent in the GC? It's a sweet but mossy, patchouli scent. Here are the notes: Red currant, molasses, vanilla cream, moss, and patchouli

 

edited because I can't spell due to lack of sleep

Edited July 17, 2011 by Poenari

[kirsten]

Not a perfect match, but Roadhouse dries down very similar to One to Tie, Two to Win on me. YMMV, of course, depending on how much of the hemp and hops you amp (I get none whatsoever), but they're pretty close. One to Tie, Two to Win is definitely the brighter/sweeter of the two, though.

[reconditarmonia]

How does Victorian Rose Milk compare to the other rose-and-milk blends - Katrina van Tassel, Dawn: Maiden, and Alice? (I don't mention Klara because I haven't tried it.) Or for that matter, to rose blends London, Peacock Queen, and The Rose?

 

I ask because there's a bottle on eBay and I'm trying to decide whether or not to buy it, since I loooove Dawn: Maiden which is available from the Lab any time.

[stellans]

How does Victorian Rose Milk compare to the other rose-and-milk blends - Katrina van Tassel, Dawn: Maiden, and Alice? (I don't mention Klara because I haven't tried it.) Or for that matter, to rose blends London, Peacock Queen, and The Rose?

 

I ask because there's a bottle on eBay and I'm trying to decide whether or not to buy it, since I loooove Dawn: Maiden which is available from the Lab any time.

Of the ones you mention above, I would say Peacock Queen is the sharper, closest-to-pure deep full-bodied rose scent. The others (except for maybe London, which is a soft tea rose to my nose) all have soft ameliorating additional notes of cream, milk and/or honey, other florals etc.

 

Of the GC blends, The Rose is the closest to pure rose for me but it is a soft pink rose rather than the red rose.

 

My personal favorite BPAL rose blend is any year release of Rose-Red. To my nose, it is the best purest rose blend ever, where once I believed it was Patou's Joy. Rose-Red has nothing which gets in the way of that beautiful young red rose scent, and it not quite as sharp as Peacock Queen (which is my second favorite.

Edited July 24, 2011 by stellans

[Lorna Brigid]

Hmm. The original Sugar Moon went really dry on my skin, with pronounced blue musk. The flowers and fruit were subdued. Personally, I don't find it similar to Eat Me at all. If I were looking for a dupe, the blue musk would be my primary search filter. Something that's blue musk (or "night musk" or similar) with light florals, maybe layered with Sugar Skull, should be up the same alley.

 

Rozpustnica, from the retail only salons, might be a good candidate for layering with Sugar Skull. (I know that's two not so readily available recommendations, but that's all I got...)

 

Wow, not a lot of blue musk in the GC! A search of reviews turned up Night Raven and Old Demons (both from the Marchen series) as possibilities, though. I should have qualified my question, or perhaps posted it in a different thread, since I'd like to try scents that are evocative of Sugar Moon. I find that I tend to select the same notes over and over again, and finding one that I like (Sugar Moon) that includes notes that are outside of my comfort zone was a welcome change. Thanks again, to all, for the suggestions. Now ... I think I may have an imp of Sugar Skull around here somewhere ....!

 

I just wanted to add that although it does not list blue musk as a note, I find Morgause to be a very blue musk style scent. It is like a tamer "Clock Strikes Midnight", which is a 2010 Yule that does list blue musk.

[reconditarmonia]

How does Victorian Rose Milk compare to the other rose-and-milk blends - Katrina van Tassel, Dawn: Maiden, and Alice? (I don't mention Klara because I haven't tried it.) Or for that matter, to rose blends London, Peacock Queen, and The Rose?

 

I ask because there's a bottle on eBay and I'm trying to decide whether or not to buy it, since I loooove Dawn: Maiden which is available from the Lab any time.

Of the ones you mention above, I would say Peacock Queen is the sharper, closest-to-pure deep full-bodied rose scent. The others (except for maybe London, which is a soft tea rose to my nose) all have soft ameliorating additional notes of cream, milk and/or honey, other florals etc.

 

Of the GC blends, The Rose is the closest to pure rose for me but it is a soft pink rose rather than the red rose.

 

My personal favorite BPAL rose blend is any year release of Rose-Red. To my nose, it is the best purest rose blend ever, where once I believed it was Patou's Joy. Rose-Red has nothing which gets in the way of that beautiful young red rose scent, and it not quite as sharp as Peacock Queen (which is my second favorite.

 

Yeah...I was really wondering how this rose-milk-honey scent compares to the other ones. But I thought I would mention the other just-rose ones since some of the reviews compare it to Peacock Queen, etc.

[sidhenecromancer]

To me at least, Danube smells like a fresher Poisson D'Avril.

Does anyone know of a good replacement for violet ray and her voice?

[donnatron]

Prurience and Tombeur share a lot in common. Both are sweet sort of vanilla/musk scents with smoky vetiver lurking around the edges. Prurience is a little softer than Tombeur but a pretty good dupe for when the Vampire series disappears.

[kirsten]

For anyone who's tried both of them, do you find Red Lace and Mme. Moriarty to be similar? They share red musk, vanilla, pomegranate, and patchouli, so I'm thinking they must smell a lot alike. Red Lace is pretty much the only blend (with the exception of The Night-Raven) where I can stand the patchouli. Is it stronger, weaker, or about the same in Mme. Moriarty?

[fireweaver]

To my nose, they're not very alike at all. MM is much stronger on the patch, and in RL it was barely noticable on me, I got more frankinsense then it.

[stellamaris]

I get just the opposite, MM is very weak to me, and also very meh, whereas Red Lace is much stronger and richer.

MM for me is just kind of fancy Snake Oil.

[Penance]

I agree that they're not very similar at all.

 

Red Lace was a light, generically sweet, powdery red fruit scent with cotton and Mme. Moriarty is darker (it starts out relatively light, but still darker than Red Lace, and then gets much richer and deeper as it ages) and deeper. I didn't get any patchouli at all from Red Lace and I don't really get an identifiable patchouli note, but it does add a darkness to the scent and I can tell its there.

[naeelah]

For anyone who's tried both of them, do you find Red Lace and Mme. Moriarty to be similar? They share red musk, vanilla, pomegranate, and patchouli, so I'm thinking they must smell a lot alike. Red Lace is pretty much the only blend (with the exception of The Night-Raven) where I can stand the patchouli. Is it stronger, weaker, or about the same in Mme. Moriarty?

 

I don't find them very similar. They're definitely in the same league, so if you like one, you might like the other, but I couldn't say they're almost identical. Red Lace, for me, is very creamy and very woody, with a lot of red fruit -- it's a nice, even blend of those three qualities.

 

Mme. Moriarty, for me, was less thick and gloopy and less overtly fruity. Less prickly. It's a lot of red musk and patchouli, on me. I didn't get a whole lot of vanilla. So for me, the pom and vanilla just seem to lightly round things out, rather than being in such equal presence as the notes of Red Lace. I would call it a sweet red musk blend, not a fruity vanilla.

 

I probably find the patchouli about the same in strength, BUT I think they're different types. MM, for me, is a somewhat lighter, greener, sharper patchouli, and the one in Red Lace -- although maybe my nose is just influenced by the sandalwood -- is more earthy, like mulch.