TPOD

Yep! The discussion starts a few pages back in this thread. Here's a pic of the new Alice label. eta: More here. ah, thank you! I purchased a GC on 3/9/09 and, in fact, it has the new label. I remember thinking "Huh, that's cool" but I thought it was just for that scent. Now I feel silly. And obviously I'm not buying enough GC stuff!!!

This thread is so dangerous! I thought I saw a mention somewhere that the GC labels are changing? It's been about 3 months since I bought a GC bottle so I'm wondering if they look different now?

I had this exact situation a year ago. I figured I'd have plenty of time to move before my order showed up. Naturally, that was the fastest turn around time I've ever had and my order was baking in my new black mailbox for who knows how many days. Everything was fine, but I had a minor heart attack when I saw it! You can check the "I got my order" thread to give you an idea of how fast turn around times are. Since you're ordering from the General Catalog instead of Limited Editions I'd say it'll probably ship fairly quickly.

Ah, thank you! I didn't consider that one, but I have an imp (somewhere??) so I'll have her sniff it and see what she thinks.

I'm looking for some citrus/ginger combos that aren't too orange-y. My mom loves Arbonne's Citrus Ginger sugar scrub and I'm trying to replicate it for her. I've never actually smelled it, which is obviously my first problem. The ingredients include linalool and limonene and something that wikipedia tells me smells like a spicy lily of the valley. Mom says it smells like ginger and lemons, but not floral. Has anyone smelled this line and does it remind you of any particular (hopefully GC) BPAL???

I didn't expect to like VN. I sniffed and lightly tested when I got my decant and thought it was kind of bland and unimpressive. This morning I grabbed the decant as I ran out the door. I'm not sure what she's been up to on her two week vacation, but VN has really 'developed'. As others have noted, there is a decided citrus vibe and clean musk. I don't get any florals from it, which is a relief. It's summery and light, not at all the dark, heavy, oppressive velvet I'd expect from a velvet blend. Actually, unlike its namesake, VN is sophisticated, polite, demure and dare I say, tasteful. I'm contemplating a bottle because I could see wearing this often. In a way, it reminds me of Manhattan, Tushnamatay, Van Van and maybe a bit of Zephyr.

I didn't expect to like VN. I sniffed and lightly tested when I got my decant and thought it was kind of bland and unimpressive. This morning I grabbed the decant as I ran out the door. I'm not sure what she's been up to on her two week vacation, but VN has really 'developed'. As others have noted, there is a decided citrus vibe and clean musk. I don't get any florals from it, which is a relief. It's summery and light, not at all the dark, heavy, oppressive velvet I'd expect from a velvet blend. Actually, unlike its namesake, VN is sophisticated, polite, demure and dare I say, tasteful. I'm contemplating a bottle because I could see wearing this often. In a way, it reminds me of Manhattan, Tushnamatay, Van Van and maybe a bit of Zephyr.

Stareena, I and a couple other people are using Bento which is a database. It's Macintosh only though. It's made by FileMaker which would be a much, much more powerful database, but also much, much more expensive. Bento is new, there is some stuff it can't do, but it's working well for me. When I win the lottery I'll get FileMaker. No offense to anyone using the spreadsheets, but I find them too limiting and I wanted a more relational type of thing, so a database works best for me. Do you already have the software? If you have any questions about how I set mine up, just ask. Obviously the technical details will be different, but I'd guess the gestalt is the same.

I recently tried Coyote and I was surprised at how calming it was. I think it could be a terrific sleep and/or meditation scent. It wasn't very strong on me, it'd require a slathering. of course TKO for sleep and for any time I need an emotional lift there aren't a whole lot of bpals with it, but Tangerine EO really lifts my mood and energy levels. I like citrus in general, but Tangerine and Grapefruit are my faves. eta: oh PS, I've read that frankincense is an effective anti-depressant you might want to check out some of those blends. I really enjoy burning the Fred Soll incenses that contain frankincense.

hee. I went round and round with it and finally I've been saying "Chris-ee", like the girl's name.

My apologies for quoting myself. How gauche! Anyway - it was Khrysee. The soapiness is the orange blossom and I suppose the spicy/woody part is the amber. I ordered a bottle of each and Makhanitis blew me away with overwhelming PLUM (plus a vaguely poopy smell ) They really are nothing alike

So, based on the recommendations in this thread I bought an imp of Chimera. Good God, it's one of the best things that's ever happened to me. Ever. Smells like a delicious snickerdoodle cookie. Mmmmm. I've ordered a 5ml and a 5ml of Pickled Imp as well, you know, just to compare.

Neo-Tokyo is discontinued so its reviews are here. PS

Speaking as an unabashed foody whore, I have to say that Chimera is a fabulous example of the perfumer's art. In the imp it smells of wonderful fresh baked sweet pastries. On the skin it blooms into an even sweeter, faintly floral and very warm cinnamon extravaganza. To my nose, it is much more reminiscent of 'true' cinnamon than the stronger, darker, cassia cinnamon that is commonly referred to and sold as cinnamon (at least in the US). Someone above compared it to the lovely, gingery Shub-Niggurath and I think that's a very apt comparison - they both have a similar sweet and soft tone. Actually, they may be the Yin & Yang of spicy foody scents. Shub has a decidedly cinnamon component to me, but ultimately I'd describe it as GINGER-dark chocolate-cinnamon, dark, sensual and slow Yin. Chimera is more like CINNAMON-vanilla-floral, bright, perky Yang. I ask you, who the hell gives this much thought to perfume? Oh yeah, you do. Dear reader, I'm drunk on cinnamon, forgive me. Chimera, I love you man, I really, really love you. You know I love you, right?? Too often, cinnamon comes across as Cracker Barrel gift store candle ---> Tintagel , but this is really, really wearable as a perfume. It's by far the most cinnamony of the 20+ blends I've tried that contain cinnamon. I applied it to my neck and was rewarded with stinging red welts. You might want to test on thicker skin, in your hair or in a locket, but you must try it.

Speaking as an unabashed foody whore, I have to say that Chimera is a fabulous example of the perfumer's art. In the imp it smells of wonderful fresh baked sweet pastries. On the skin it blooms into an even sweeter, faintly floral and very warm cinnamon extravaganza. To my nose, it is much more reminiscent of 'true' cinnamon than the stronger, darker, cassia cinnamon that is commonly referred to and sold as cinnamon (at least in the US). Someone above compared it to the lovely, gingery Shub-Niggurath and I think that's a very apt comparison - they both have a similar sweet and soft tone. Actually, they may be the Yin & Yang of spicy foody scents. Shub has a decidedly cinnamon component to me, but ultimately I'd describe it as GINGER-dark chocolate-cinnamon, dark, sensual and slow Yin. Chimera is more like CINNAMON-vanilla-floral, bright, perky Yang. I ask you, who the hell gives this much thought to perfume? Oh yeah, you do. Dear reader, I'm drunk on cinnamon, forgive me. Chimera, I love you man, I really, really love you. You know I love you, right?? Too often, cinnamon comes across as Cracker Barrel gift store candle ---> Tintagel , but this is really, really wearable as a perfume. It's by far the most cinnamony of the 20+ blends I've tried that contain cinnamon. I applied it to my neck and was rewarded with stinging red welts. You might want to test on thicker skin, in your hair or in a locket, but you must try it.

Well, I hadn't considered that it might have gone that far . . . oh dear. I'm not too familiar with teak, but I'll have to read the description for Melainis and see if anything else pops out at me. Since I usually avoid florals I'm totally clueless about orange flower. I know enough to know it doesn't smell of oranges! I'll see if any blends I have contain orange flower to compare. Is that the same as neroli??

Well I'm certain one of them is mislabeled. I think you're right about it being Makhanitis rather than Khrysee. I went and read the reviews for both of them and it does seem a bit more Makhanitis like. However, so many people got the plum/grape/wine from that one and I don't get any of that at all. Also, some people mentioned that it is a 'red' smelling blend to them. I'm getting pure warm gold from this. While described as 'golden' it seems like Khrysee is too simple a blend to be what I'm smelling? Plus, amber usually has a very distinctive powdery-ness to me that this just doesn't have. In the reviews of Khrysee a lot of folks mentioned that it wasn't powdery though. Sigh. Based on the descriptions both of these blends should work great for me - I'm thinking of just buying bottles of them to solve the mystery.

I have two aphrodite decants from a circle that I'm 98% sure are the same thing. So chances are, one of them is mislabeled. They're Khrysee and Makhanitis. The oil is a translucent medium orangey brown color. Initially it smells quite soapy and floral, but the drydown is incredibly gorgeous spicy/resiny/woody. I want more, I'm just not sure what it is. Khrysee is supposed to be vanilla, amber and orange blossom Makhanitis is supposed to be black plum, burgandy wine, sandalwood and champaca Truthfully I'm not picking out any of these notes specifically and the longer I wear it, the more I vacillate between one and the other.

Bathsheba has been on my radar since my first BPAL order, I just always passed it by. It seemed too girly, too floral, too simple. In fact, Bathsheba is simply elegant. This could almost pass for regular, commercial perfume, like a classic scent that's been around since the 1920's. It evokes the palest pink blush. It's lovely and it's the first time I've been able to detect carnation in a blend and I like it very much. Florals don't do well on me, so this is a pleasant surprise. I suppose I had some preconceptions about carnation - something to do with high school dance corsages and green dyed St Paddy's day dreck. Despite their down market connotation, they are nice flowers Sadly, it has practically no throw or duration on my skin so I reluctantly must put it aside. Jewelbug's reference to Necco wafers is spot on. That's what I smell on my wrists an hour after application: Ghosts of Necco Wafers Provided your skin does not consume it, this would be a good choice for those times when over the top BPALs aren't appropriate: job interviews, court dates, public executions . . .

Bathsheba has been on my radar since my first BPAL order, I just always passed it by. It seemed too girly, too floral, too simple. In fact, Bathsheba is simply elegant. This could almost pass for regular, commercial perfume, like a classic scent that's been around since the 1920's. It evokes the palest pink blush. It's lovely and it's the first time I've been able to detect carnation in a blend and I like it very much. Florals don't do well on me, so this is a pleasant surprise. I suppose I had some preconceptions about carnation - something to do with high school dance corsages and green dyed St Paddy's day dreck. Despite their down market connotation, they are nice flowers Sadly, it has practically no throw or duration on my skin so I reluctantly must put it aside. Jewelbug's reference to Necco wafers is spot on. That's what I smell on my wrists an hour after application: Ghosts of Necco Wafers Provided your skin does not consume it, this would be a good choice for those times when over the top BPALs aren't appropriate: job interviews, court dates, public executions . . .

I wore Tabella too. And then the mail came with my BPAL order and now I'm wearing: everything.

Some of the Steamworks scents have a mechanical quality to them, but it's more of a polished wood thing than a carburetor thing. Toad and Troll are both really nice and manly. Roadhouse has a sort of truckstop vibe, even though it smells green to me. I guess I'm not much help!!

Yep, Midnight Kiss smells like Cherry Garcia ice cream tastes. Yum. eta: cherry is not actually one of the listed notes, I don't know why it smells like cherries; maybe the wine?

If you're still looking for that musk component; give Anactoria a try. I wore it today and one of my coworkers asked if I brought cinnamon rolls to work. There's no cinnamon in it; but it does have a certain baked goods vibe along with the yummy musk: Anactoria: Golden amber, white honey, red currant, daemonorops, kush, and Arabian musk.

This was a surprise hit for me. I normally can't do florals. Jasmine initially does it's overwhelming thing. But then there's a while of sweet, gorgeous honeysuckle. The best part for me is the drydown, which is a wonderful skin musk just barely tinged with floral.