orata

The cedar in Tombstone reminds me of pencils a little bit. The Lantern Ghost of Oiwa smells a little like rubber (though I thought gloves and balloons; not sure what kneaded rubber erasers smell like).

SWEET vanilla, tobacco leaf, and copal. It's much sweeter and less creamy than Haloes or Antikythera Mechanism. It's very sweet on my skin and (like sunshinedaisybliss) it reminds me a lot of Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille--like a really sweet, marshmallowy, vanilla-scented pipe tobacco. Slightly smoky, but much more like unsmoked tobacco to me.

Medicinal at first, a little terrifying to sniff when wet; however, it mellows and morphs into the most amazing dark, spicy, resinous vanilla that clings to the body--a sexy skin scent like a black silk negligee. Smoldering, smooth, dark, warm, well blended. The chili does burn my skin a little, so if you're sensitive, be careful.

Yaaay, I got my bottle of Melancholia! I think that's my favorite Salon--creamy florals. I also love Three Brides (spicy rose-carnation floriental) and Kiyohime Changes from a Serpent (aquatic plum-fruity-floral).

A lot of cinnamon scents are much too aggressive and just smell like red hots or cinnamon candy on my skin. However, the cinnamon in this is gentle, warm, sweet, and creamy, like the softer cinnamon sugar in cinnamon morning buns. It threatens to get slightly plasticky in the vein of Dana O'Shee, but never ends up being as much of an offender as Dana was on my skin. Also, it's not too foody/sweet because of the copal and myrrh--it has the same softness to the cinnamon as cinnamon buns, but doesn't actually smell exactly like baked goods to me.

After a long time hunting for it, I finally managed to snag an imp of this on eBay!

It's a creamy vanilla musk scent, sweeter and more buttery than I had thought it would be, especially as it dries down. Almost too sweet, maybe. I don't really get a lot of florals; it's almost all vanilla to me, maybe a bit of that lineny "lace" base. It reminds me most of Black Lace, but quieter, softer and much, much sweeter; Black Opal, but definitely softer and not as cold/inorganic-smelling; and Boo, but not as toothachingly sweet and creamy.

I've also seen it compared to Morocco, and they have a similar musk, but the spicy carnation in Morocco makes it smell very different to me.

It lasts a very, very long time, which is good since I probably won't ever be able to track down another imp once this one is gone... but one little drop has lasted for about 7 hours on me so far.

It's too bad everything else I've found similar is LE or DC'd (this includes another e-tailer scent that I found very similar to both this and Black Opal, but was recently discontinued with no notice as well!) Maybe one of these days a replacement for that tricky component can be found.

Is cassis a typo for cassia? This smells very dry-cinnamony to me, with cherry, but mainly spicy and WHOA CASSIA. Woodsy and spicy and burning my skin

Fig and orange, with a slightly sickly sweet resin base from the myrrh. It smells good, but somehow seems to lack substance or body; something about it feels wimpy to me. Not simple, but spineless. Maybe I'm anosmic to something in here?

Soft, faint, delicate, powdery amber. There's a hint of something fruity that reminds me of Brisingamen. Somehow I thought it would smell closer to Harp of Cnoc I'Chosgair, but I barely get anything but faint amber here.

Spicy! Dry and spicy. I would have said cinnamon, but I guess it's the cardamom and nutmeg talking. I don't find it especially floral; it kind of reminds me of holiday potpourri, sadly. Creamier and more distinctly cardamom as it dries; more interestingly exotic, but reminiscent of the spice aisle at the Indian market.

Is this the right thread for discussing similarities with Salon scents?

I just tried Sunrise with Sea-Monsters and the sweet/saltiness reminds me a lot of Lyonesse.

Melancholia reminds me of the old LE Signior Dildo, minus the violet note.

Fox Fires reminds me of On The Death of His Mistress because of the green tea incense.

With the demise of Hymn to Proserpine and my beloved Hermia, does anyone have any recommendations for fruity amber scents?

What about The Hanging Gardens? It doesn't list amber, but it seems in that family to me.

Also discontinued

I got impatient (and worried about Melancholia) and placed an order for Salons--then realized maybe I should have waited for 13/Coraline. Fffffff I hate paying extra shipping.

I gave Melancholia a lukewarm review at first but it settles to a really beautiful soft creamy floral--I've been wearing it almost nonstop from the decant I got from swaps recently.

Have you tried Brisingamen? It's appley amber.

I'm trying to pare my list down from four to two and I'm having a rough time!

 

Spirit of the Komachi Cherry Tree (Cherry blossom, blue lilac, lavender monofloral honey, white sandalwood, and Asian pear): I don't think I have any cherry blossom in my BPAL stash and I'm not sure how that happened because cherry blossom is one of my favorite smells ever. I'm worried about this maybe being too light though.

 

Itasô Kansei Nenkan Jorô No Fûzoku (Osmanthus, white honey, ti leaf, hibiscus, and sugar cane): I love, love, love everything listed here except for the osmanthus which I don't think I've ever smelled. A lot of the reviews mention this being really herbal which I'm not a fan of, so can anyone chime in?

 

Three Brides (Moroccan rose, king mandarin, red sandalwood, Egyptian amber, orchid, carnation, benzoin, tonka, calla lily, vanilla flower): This just sounds so pretty!

 

Schlafende Baigneuse (Skin musk, white cream, honeycomb, yellow rose, King mandarin, chrysanthemum, golden amber, honeysuckle, and wide-throated yellow monkey-flower accord): I read the notes for this one and my eyes kept getting bigger because it's like it was made just for me, but then I got to the wide-throated yellow monkey flower. Any thoughts on this one?

SotKCT I found light and pretty but unexceptional.

Itaso is greenish and tart-fruity-sweet, but not herbal at all to my nose. Osmanthus smells a bit like green, floral apricots with a slight leathery undertone. The BPAL blends where I've found it strongest are Belle Vinu (reinforced by peach) and My Sweetest Lesbia. Itaso smells a bit more like hibiscus to me.

Schadenfreude Baigneuse (autocorrect from my phone that I liked, so I left it ) seems to be an unexceptional light and slightly sharp rose scent to me. I'll try it again on clean skin tomorrow.

Can anyone compare Fox Fires to Spirit of the Komachi Cherry Tree? I'm thinking of getting the latter and waffling on the former.

They smell very different to me--Komachi is a sweet, lilac-y, lightly fruity floral, while Fox Fires strikes me mostly as a green matcha incense. Fox Fires seems more unique/"interesting," I guess, but I like Komachi better, so if I were you, I'd get that one. Someone else might say the exact opposite if they liked incense better than florals.

The hibiscus and osmanthus team up to give the impression of some kind of bright, tart red fruit, so it opens much more fruity than I would have expected. The fruitiness fades a bit, and leaves behind a fresh, sweet green scent, like a combination of fresh sugar cane juice and fresh-cut grass, still with the general fruity-floral impression from the hibiscus/osmanthus flowers. Clean, green, tart and sweet. It has pretty good throw and smells very distinctive. It has certain similarities to Harikata (one of my favorites) but is much juicier/fruitier than that scent.

ETA: The review above was based on a decant. I got a bottle of this based on the decant, and it smelled quite different! Less green, more perfumey-honeyed; reminded me of Gennivre.

Fruity! Crisp green pear with soapy-floral lilacs and cherry blossoms. It's not too strong on the honey. Clean, delicate, and pretty, if leaning slightly towards the generic-perfumey or body wash type of scent. The drydown is especially clean and nice in this hot weather. I like it, but somehow it doesn't have a distinct identity to me--like I'd enjoy smelling it but wouldn't remember at all how it smelled once it wasn't under my nose anymore.

This is TONS of lilac and paperwhite narcissus on my skin. I actually thought it was orange blossom until I read the notes, but I think I was wrong and it's mainly lilac and narcissus. It is an incredibly powerful, huge floral. Slightly creamy-smelling, somewhat fresh and soapy. The ylang ylang and lily (smells like lily of the valley to me, actually; with sort of that light greenness) emerge a bit as the scent dries down; I don't smell the sandalwood or cypress. To me it smells like a creamy, pure classic floral. It kind of gives me a headache, but I think I'd like it with just a TEENY tiny dab instead of a swipe from the imp wand.

Very creamy black mint tea scent with pretty good throw. There is this prominent note that, unfortunately, having read the reviews, I can only identify as rubber. Maybe the rice wine + anise (or licorice or whatever smells like it in here) + lilies? I really liked it until I came in here and started reading reviews; now I keep thinking of uninflated balloons.

I love this--wasn't sure about it at first since BPAL aquatics seldom work for me, but it's really lovely! It's a fresh, slightly (but not overpoweringly) salty fruity floral scent. The fruity part is mostly delicate fresh plum. With the listed notes, I thought it might end up having a li hing mui sort of vibe, but it's definitely fresh fruits and seawater, not concentrated dried salted plum. It does have a sort of drugstore body wash/shampoo or Bath and Body Works type of vibe to it, so it might be a little too "functional fragrance" or generic-smelling to deserve a bottle purchase; still trying to decide, because I like the scent a lot.

Very foody. Sweet, buttery, dark, rich caramel. It actually reminds me of some crumbly brown sugar pralines I got at a Cajun restaurant the other week. The vanilla note smells just like the Bourbon Vanilla bath oil from last Valentine's day, with its almost sassafras note. The carnation and iris are soft undertones and remind me of Zarita the Doll Girl (but I like this better than Zarita) and I don't really get the patchouli at all; it must be pretty well-blended. It smells quite complex and rich despite the general overwhelming caramel impression.

I love the painting, but I'm not crazy about the scent. I think the rice wine and incense notes don't agree with me.

Something about it is very familiar, but I'm not sure what.

Green bamboo and rice wine are the two most prominent top notes. As it dries, the lilac note becomes stronger, and finally the musk and green tea incense dominate the scent. At this point, it reminds me of On The Death of His Mistress, with its sort of smoky matcha-musk vibe. Too incensey for me, with a faint cloying, boozy sweetness from the rice wine underpinnings. The lilac and cherry blossoms are perceptible from a little farther away from the skin.

It isn't a very strong perfume. It's a light, pale, green and white type of scent, and delicate like all the Japanese Salons I've tried so far.

Gorgeous scent. Smells like freshly brewed jasmine tea. The florals are gentle and sweet and the tea note is quite prominent and fresh, maybe too astringent for some--stronger than the floral notes, to my nose. It is definitely white tea, with that sharp clear freshness to it, rather than green or black tea. The overall impression is fresh and sharply floral, and more on the commercial perfume end of the spectrum than many BPALs.

New Orleans: How about Crossroads, Deep in Earth, or Zombi? Or any of the Conjure Bag scents.

Canine: Wolfsbane?

Arthurian: Fae? Or Oberon was sometimes said to be the son of Morgan Le Fay.