Fyre_in_Winter

Despite the caraway, jasmine, and gardenia, I had to try Faiza because it has a whole bunch of my absolute favorite notes. It smells quite odd to my nose, and I wouldn't wear it everyday, but I find it very appealing for those occasions when I want a rich "perfumey" perfume. It smells really expensive and a bit piercing, but still unique and unusual.

I was expecting a sexier/ more leathery version of Tombstone... alas, I mostly got a similar leather to Quincey Morris on dry, green, not-so-Snake-Oily base. It wasn't bad, but I see no reason to get a bottle when I much prefer Tombstone or layering Snake Oil and Quincey Morris (or De Sade).

Well, they don't have black currant in them, but I definately get "dark berries" from Blood Countess and Morgause. I'd also recommend giving Blood Countess a shot. You might also like Montresor, thought its an LE.

I'll second (third?) the Tombstone recommendation. It's a little drier and less fruity than SO. Yes, you do need to go try Snake Charmer again! Also, give Scherezade and Fenris Wolf a shot for the red musk action. And maybe try Loviatar, which to me has a similar spice as Snake Oil.

I love both Dracul and Haunted. I'd suggest finding an orangle peel/woody blend and layering it with Haunted.

Lyonesse has dethroned Perversion as my all-time favorite scent. I think I may have found my signature scent. This is gorgeousness, bottled. It is the perfect balance of amber, vanilla, sweet musk, and a hint of.... something ethereal. ETA: Oh yeah, this is The One. It's perfect for any occasion and has decent lasting power. *@^#&$, this smells so good.............

For the "dark, manipulative seductress" (mind you, this is probably based on my own scent biases): Al-shairan Blood Kiss (the vetiver in this particularly says "blade" to me..but I'm weird, I like vetiver) Bloodlust Lilith Loviatar Sin Spellbound and if you're into layering, I'd give Perversion (or Snake Oil) + De Sade or Iago a try. "Ninja geisha" conjures up Nosferatu or straight De Sade to my nose, for some reason. For the Ice Queen archtype that aren't minty or pine-y, perhaps the grapefruit and zingy lemon scents would be more what you're looking for... or violets (i.e. Numb)- I can't make any recommendations there, because those are generally notes that hate my skin. And as for ethereal, misty gossamer scents, I'll second Empyreal Mist. Have fun on your search!

I'm going to see Il Divo at an outdoor venue in June in Atlanta, GA and I have NO IDEA which BPAL to wear. I'll probably be wearing something black and attempt to look classy. As far as my scent preferences, I'm totally into heavy resins, tobacco, leather, spicy, and incensey scents, especially foody ones. But, what the heck do I wear outside on a summer night in Georgia?

The first time I tried this, the lavender went all crazy and I tucked it away with a few other scents for when I wanted to smell herbal in warm weather. Now that aforesaid warm weather has come, I put some on today. To sum up, it smells like Antique Lace, De Sade, and Snake Oil had a threesome on my wrist. Needless to say, I am one satisfied customer here Beth.

I just got my imp of Ozymandias, and the opening note is almost exctly like that of Shalimar. And it has a warm ambery drydown that I adore.

Forgive me, I'm an artist and a Vrigo, so I'm going to be a little analytical. And of course these are only my own perceptions. Lavender/ Blue Violet Scents:Somnus, Tisiphone Violet Scents: Intrigue, Queen of Spades, Spellbound Dark Purple/ Red Violet Scents: Bewitched, Montresor, Queen of Clubs, Wanda Fuscia/ Magenta Scents: Bordello

Hunter Moon springs to mind.

Blood Kiss and Hearth '04, if you can find it. Also you might want to give Black Phoenix a shot.

This is the good stuff right here. I was wary because of the dragon's blood and cocoa, but couldn't pass up on the black pepper and allspice. quikslvr kindly decanted me an imp of this scent and I'm considering buying a big bottle. On my skin this concoction becomes a warm, spicy and comforting scent. The cocoa smells like it's supposed to and stays submissive, which is good. The spices are glorious but not too spicy. The db thankfully does not turn into cinna-berry-bubblegum. Vetiver is usually amped up on my skin (in a pleasant way, it gets citrus-y tangy) but I've only gotten a whiff once out of the Tell-Tale Heart. I chalk all of the notes behaving themselves up to the blood musk, whatever that is. All in all a very, very nice scent. After a bit, I think I detect some similarity to Snake Charmer in the undertone. So if you like thick, warm spicy/incensey scents, definitely give this one a go.

I'm pretty leery of any scents containing wine, as they have a tendency to turn into grape cough syrup on my skin (and I abhor grape anything). I was extremely pleased with Montresor, however. I won't beat around the bush and just say that it smells like really funky wine in the bottle. I put it on my wrist and my gods, it became incredible. The black fruit was very reminiscent (to me) of whatever combo is in King of Spades and Queen of Clubs. Yummy stuff, though it seems to stay in the throw pretty much. Up next to my skin is where the delicious oaken vanilla mojo really works its magic. A very comforting and laid back scent. Being a Hearth '04 fan, I wish there was more of the cherry tobacco to it that others have reported, but Montresor is more than sufficient on its own. I bought Andra's bottle on the spot.

I wear Blood Kiss almost exclusively during my period.

I was very excited when reading the reviews that said HD is similar to Hearth '04. Unfortunately, to me, they are very different. To me this smells almost like Hellfire + DeSade + some sweet powdery musk in the drydown stage. Wet it smelled almost entirely of cloyingly sweet leather, plus a touch of something that was almost anise. I get more dry smoke from this blend than the actual smell of tobacco. I usually like sweeter scents, but this isn't sitting well with my skin chemistry. This scent would be very nice on a guy, but it doesn't do it for me at all.

I really liked Pink Phoenix in the bottle. It was a sugary sweet girly fruit scent with only a slight undertone of flowers. On my skin it began nice enough, with the honey pleasantly mellowing out and warming up the blend. But over the course of about half an hour it became more and more Strawberries R Us. And since I don't want to smell like a sugar-encrusted strawberry, I'm not heartbroken about not acquiring a bottleof it.

Midnight Mass smelled pleasantly resinous in the bottle, but on my skin it turned into a dry smell with a hint of body odor. Not good, and I had to go wash it off.

Paperdoll was kind enough to let me try some of her Sugar Skull 05. In the bottle I just smell booze (which is fine by me-bring it on!) On my skin it becomes this warm vanilla scent with a hint of caramel to it and every so often a little booze will come wafting off. A gorgeous scent that is actually very adult. I need to see about getting ahold of some of this!

I do believe Penance and I have very similar skin chemistry..but anyhow... I will also preface this saying I ADORE Hearth 1004 with all of my soul. Really truly and so I was bit heartbroken when I saw it had been reformulated. I usually like to more descriptive in my reviews but all I can say about Hearth 2005 is that it smells like buttered pine trees. Both in the imp and on my skin it smells like a bough of fresh crispy pine branches covered in melted yellow butter. While this isn't precisely a bad smell... I don't want to smell like either butter or pine trees, so this scent is definitely not for me. ETA: I can spell, I swear!

Dracul is definitely not what I expected. At first on my skin is was very tangy with almost a zesty lime note that went so citrusy for a second I thought Dracul would turn to lemons on me. Fortunately it didn't. The black musk and te balsam have combined into a beautiful soft and very sweet throw that is also warm and rich. When I press my nose against my wrist, I get a very subdued jolt of citrus and perhaps a tinge of mint. I'm glad the fir didn't surface, but what made me really want to try this blend was that it has both tobacco and clove in it, neither of which I can distinctly smell. But I still like it quote a bit and it will make a unique contribution to my BPAL collection. For some reason I can foresee wearing this when I have apresentation to make, since it is simulatneously soothing and energizing and powerful. ETA: It just occured to me this has a similar feel to Haunted, just a tad more masculine AND, oddly, a bit sweeter.

It smells like.. hmm, "wet" cocoa in the vial. On my skin it becomes an interesting mixture of cocoa, grape-ishness, with a vanilla-esque and perhaps sandalwoody undertone. I apologize for the imprecise description! Hmm.. something a little tangy is peeking out and mixing with the grape (wine usually goes to grapes on my skin)and fuses into a nifty berry note. This has some similarities to Intrigue and Velvet to my nose. It also has some similarities to Hellcat (I can see why LadyWilde said hazelnuts!). Very warm and sweet plus the tangy berry. I wonder too if there might be a wee hint of vetiver in here... a similar undertone as Blood Kiss. This should be a scent I love.. tang, sweetness, and warm.. but it doesn't "do it" for me. I may have to put cocoa on my iffy notes list... a "good in theory but not in practice" kinda thing.

I'll second Silk Road, as it has a similar spicy and woody feel (to me).

Hmmm... Tisiphone is a quite nice dry and sweet floral. If you like that sort of thing. I'm not a tremendous fan of ylang ylang and something in this blend has completely turned it into sweet baby powder in 15 minutes. Not precise4ly bad... just not my thing, and my skin chemistry is in complete agreement.