donnatron

Off the top of my head, the closest I can think of is Coyote. The description is: The warmth of doeskin, dry plains grasses and soft, dusty woods warmed by amber and a downy, gentle coat of deep musk. However, to my nose it's a vest dry, sunny scent. It might layer nicely with a more dewey or dark scent. Rosalind might work, but I also find that sunny rather than twilight-y. The Hanging Gardens (in a much smaller quantity than Coyote) could provide a deep, rich earthy/fruity scent. Layering with Yvaine also appeals to my senses but, that's because I have a lavender garden, so that's the scent I associate with twilight. If you want a single scent, the best choice might be Allison Gross. It's a lunacy from summer last year and it's still pretty common on the Swaps and Sales forum. I had a sniffie of it a while ago and I recall it being a strange sort of sweet-herbal-floral-dry scent. Long Night Moon (also pretty common, I think) smells like a cold, clear lake in a meadow under the full moon. It doesn't have the woodiness, but it definitely evokes the summer months.

Bottle: Lavender. Wet: It goes kind of funky and I have a brief panicked moment. After application to skin, it smells... well, not nice. Borderline mid-summer-dumpster, actually. Dry: Whatever that dumpster scent is, it burns off quickly leaving a beautiful creamy floral spiked by lavender in it's place. The creaminess is definitely coming from the opium--it's starting to smell a bit like what would happen if Darkness and Beatrice had a baby. It's gorgeous. Very unusual, very feminine, and while it may be considered a sleep aide, it is so gorgeous that I think it definitely needs to be smelled by people I don't live with. Throw: I put one tiny dab on my wrist, touched my wrists together for a second, and it is enveloping me. Overall: Sleepy Moon was before my time and I've been hunting it madly ever since I discovered BPAL. Thank God it lived up to expectations.

I found it by googling: "Fleurs d'Amour" perfume notes. It's about halfway down this page. I also learned that there are a hell of a lot of people out there who collect empty perfume bottles. This makes my habit of collecting full perfume bottles seem entirely less crazy

Bottle: Dominantly gardenia and ambergris. I get a touch of white tea and almost none of my beloved chrome. Wet: Hooboy. Yeah, this is perfumey. It's a bright, fresh gardenia backed by indecipherable freshness and a slight tang from the chrome. The chrome makes it smell very modern. It sort of reminds me of colognes from the 1990s, that sort of pared down, back to basics scent you got from Calvin Klein or Ralph Lauren. Dry: It retains a lot of the wet scent but the longer I wear it, the more I smell the vanilla musk. It gains more of a softened, skin sweetness. Very pretty and fresh and surprisingly unisex. Throw: Surprisingly intense for such a light sense. Overall: A nice, fresh scent, good for wearing if I'm going to be meeting clients or new people and want to smell professional. I think the one bottle will last me well enough. Try it if you want something fresh and comforting.

XXXVII Bottle: Lotus. Lots and lots of lotus. I kind of amp lotus, but I also dig lotus so this is a good thing. In the background I smell something crisp and green. Reminds me of granny smith apples. Wet: LOTUS! SO MUCH LOTUS!!!! Also, a green apple sort of scent. Touch of wood. Not sandalwood, rosewood or teak. Maybe mahogany. If it's mahogany bouquet, they basically dripped one drop out of the pipette, because it's not dominant, it's just there. Dry: Apple seeds. Spot on replica of crushed apple seeds. Sort of dry, slightly apple-y, sweet, touched with almond woodiness. It's awesome. Throw: Apples throw most of all. The lotus is surprisingly close to the skin. Overall: I'm happy with it. Luckily I'm not freakishly in love, but it's a nice, fresh scent and I do love to smell like apples come the fall months.

So after some googling, I found the notes for Fleurs d'Amour: honeysuckle, jasmine and sandalwood. Pretty straightforward, actually. Suggestions: Eos: Jasmine and honeysuckle with buttercup and skin musk. May be a bit too modern for the era. Love Me: If you can handle lotus. Jasmine and honeysuckle with lotus, a woodsy note and some sort of faint hint of an animalistic musk. New Orleans: Lacks the woody note but sports the jasmine-honeysuckle combo. Completely indulgent ideas: Bat-Woman: Haven't tried it, but it sounds a bit complex plus it's night-blooming jasmine, not regular jasmine. Hony Mone: Definitely has an old fashioned feel to it and sports honeysuckle.

A challenge! I don't know if we can totally replicate it, but here's a list: Kumiho: Haven't tried it, but it seems simple enough and the combo of tea andd ginger is probably something that we associate with upset stomachs and the like. Siren: My number one recommendation. It's sweet ginger with a touch of orange blossom. It doesn't have the effervescence of fresh gingerale, but it does kind of remind me of flat gingerale. Sadly, that's about all I can come up with. If an imp of Siren floats your way, definitely try it. It's the best GC choice I can think of. Maybe Siren layered with Bon Vivant would give you the effervescence of a freshly opened gingerale?

Civet is one of those scents that I think vary pretty wildly from perfumer to perfumer due to the scarcity of real civet (I think it's banned in most industrialized countries but there's probably a thriving black market). As it is, I think that you should maybe expand your search and include other dark musks--definitely look for something animalistic. But for Egyptian musk there's: Salome: Woodsy musk. Nice almond in this one. Skuld: I've heard multiple good things about this one. Honeyed musk, basically. May be a bit too sweet for your tastes. For civet: Love Me: May not even be civet. Personally, I get lotus, honeysuckle and jasmine with a hint of sandalwood and something very dark and animalistic. I think it's civet, and I even braved putting Satyr back on my skin to compare. May be too sweet for your tastes, but civet's actually pretty rare in the BPAL ouevre. I think Block Buster may also have the civet note. Satyr: First of all, it's a good representation of BPAL civet. It's civet, patchouli and something else. Very earthy, dark and civet-y. For general animalistic: Coyote: No civet listed but it may be a component of the doeskin. Smells palpably alive. Dragon's Musk: Musk. MUSK! MUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSSSSSK! If you're doing an imp pack, try this. Haunted: Amber and black musk. Really dark, heady and dries down to a sweet skin scent. Iago: Dark and musky. May be darker than you want. Libertine: Arabian musk. I'm not sure, but to my nose, Egyptian, Arabian and red musks all have a lot of qualities in common. Sort of incense-y and sultry. Scherezade: Red musk and spices. May not completely replicate, but might be a new addition. Sed Non Satiata: Admittedly I haven't tried this but the description makes it sound like it will smell like drunk sex. Sex = musk in my mind (don't know why. In fact, wearing black musk is probably going to guarantee I go home alone) and that seems to work for this combo.

I can't help for Tiki King but I discovered a good one today: if you let the top notes dry off of Love-Lies-Bleeding it smells like Hony Mone. Good stuff.

Weird. I thought I'd reviewed this. Imp: Dark and scary. I smell a faint hint of sweet dragon's blood but it's predominantly patchouli and vetiver. Wet: It sweetens waaaaay up. Predominantly dragon's blood and red musk now. I get a hint of patchouli earthiness and the vetiver has all but disappeared. Dry: The vetiver begins to peek out and brings a sort of powdery edge to it. This melds together into a really nice sweet musky scent with a sort of earthy, dirty base. Throw: Awesome. Overall: I have two imps of this--one really aged and one almost fresh. This is the fresh review and I'm surprised at how much I like it fresh now. This may have to be a big bottle for snuggly winter days.

Imp: The usual spicy cherry-lilac I get from dragon's blood and something else very faint that I can't really decipher. Wet: The first time I remember smelling the ocean I was at White Rock in British Columbia and it was low tide. I was about seven or so and I remember thinking "Ew, why do people like the smell of the ocean?" The aquatics in this smell EXACTLY like White Rock at low tide on my skin. It's really gross, actually, but I stick it out because I can smell the dragon's blood starting to develop. Dry: The dragon's blood strengthens up and is the dominant scent. But there's still this undercurrent of eau de White Rock and it is not my bag. The longer this dries down the more it melds together and creates this gross rotting-florals-at-low-tide scent. Throw: Strong. Overall: I thought it was kind of an interesting combo but it didn't work out for me. Luckily there are many more lovelies to be discovered in the Arc Draconis line.

Imp: Metallic violets with a bit of that fuzzy cologne-y-ness I get from tonka. Wet: Super sweet and intense violets. Strangely, it reminds me of a sniffy of Faith (or is it Hope? One of the Siamese twins) I had a while ago. Dry: Dear God... this dries down to smell like violets and blood accord. I am a sick, blood accord loving puppy and this is AWESOME! I get a tiny hint of the clove and this winds up smelling a lot more dark and terrifying than it was probably intended to. Throw: Good. Mostly violets, you have to get up close and personal for the faux blood accord. Overall: Why do I Say "No more BPAL for a while" and then test imps? It's such a financially dangerous habit. But Sybaris smells like something a bit dangerous so I guess that's just the way I roll.

My daily moisterizer is fractionated coconut oil mixed with Kyoto. It's light enough that it fades to a general skin-like sweetness after application, but it just brings a smile to my face after my morning shower. It's definitely a bright, "pink" scent. Other ideas that spring to mind: Moxie: The panaceas are a bit more expensive than the GC, but I find them a lot stronger so a little goes a long, long way. Moxie is a bright, sweet citrus and it does exactly what it advertises. Only issue is that until you figure out the exact distribution of scent to shower gel, you might smell a bit more strongly of it than you'd prefer. Schrodinger's Cat: Sugared citrus with a touch of oakmoss and mint. Alice: If you're using Pink Moon 07, this has a similar carnation note, although not quite as sugary. The honey note makes it a bit more sensual than the bright sweetness of Pink Moon. Endymion: A softer, more dreamy version of Thalia's pear. Maenad: Sweet, fruity carnation.

There's a thread over in the FAQs that can help you out with this. If it doesn't smell different from the other ones, I wouldn't worry about it.

I jog by myself so usually I just smell like whatever I smell like when I put on my shorts. However, I've found that Green Phoenix is a great motivational scent, as is Ultraviolet. Anything fresh and clean makes it a whole lot easier to keep my asthmatic ass going. Anti-recommendation: I was wearing Sacred Whore of Babylon yesterday and by the time I finished my run I smelled like rancid bananas and cat farts. Definitely scrub that one off if you're headed towards the gym.

Bottle: I almost recoil in horror. A smell a general sweet floral aquatic, but it is overpowered by this incredible, stinging, bitter TREE scent. I've encountered it before in the BPAL ouvre, but I can't place it. In the bottle this smells like Blue Moon 07 with the melon swapped out for angry trees. Wet: Angry, bitter, evil trees. Sort of like what I imagine the forest to smell like in Lord of the Rings when the hobbits encounter the talking trees and don't know they're on the side of good yet. Evil tree sweat over soft, sweet florals and a light ozone note. Bit of fire to this as well. Dry: Craziest thing ever. Super crazy, in fact. It smells like chocolate. Slightly piney chocolate. It's nice, actually. Sweet and clean and really warm and pretty. It reminds me of Golden Priapus, but I think that's just because I love Golden Priapus only after the drydown kills the juniper note. This is... insane. Throw: Good. I can definitely smell it wafting off my arms. Overall: So not expecting this to smell like... this. I was looking forward to dark, woodsy and smoky. It's a nice scent, though. Clearly weird on my chemistry but does it's damndest to smell delicious. Glad to have a bottle but I think I'll be seeing more in cooler weather.

I can't even do this with my usual review format. It smells nice in the imp. It touches my skin and it smells like Mary Worth. That is all.

Yeah, it messed up my order but I'm Canada so I have to use Paypal. I apologized to the lab in my subject line for all the abbreviations. I can't imagine why they imposed the ban--are people using Paypal to carry on torrid, bandwidth-gobbling conversations while they frequently exchange currency or something?

Bottle: When I smell amber, I just don't smell anything. I get a bit of plum and a bit of disturbing oily sweetness. It's one of those scents that you smell and you can taste it. Wet: Sour honey, warming skin musk. It's pretty much the same as every other skin musk scent. But Les Bijoux and Eos are two of my favourite scents, so let's wait this out. Dry: So glad I did. It smells like soft, sweet, clean skin with just a trace of light florals on it. The other scents are so light compared to the skin musk/amber/honey that it kind of smells like waking up after a kind of naughty night with the scent of your perfume still on your skin. It's a memory of a scent more than an identifiable scent. It's very sexy and provacative. Throw: Good. Mostly the honey throws along with the amber. You have to get up close and personal for the skin musk (which is probably how it should always be). Overall: I kind of lucked into a bottle through a LJ sale. It's beautiful. The Brides of Dracula may have to mud wrestle with Les Bijjoux for skin musk commander of my heart.

Bottle: Potent is the first word that comes to mind. I bought this from LJ and it was opened once in 2007 and I can smell it without opening the bottle. In fact, when the envelope arrived, I could smell it and feared the worst. Anyway. STRONG vanilla mint. Same vanilla as Monster Bait: biggerCritters. It's very sweet and smooth and borderline buttery. Really lovely mint note that I don't think I've smelled in BPAL before. Wet: HI! HELLO! I AM TOKYO STOMP AND THAT IS WHAT I DO BEST! STOMPY STOMP STOMP STOMP! LOTS OF SMELL! VERY LOUD! The scent from the bottle but magnified like whoa. I put on a drop from the lid and my wee little brain cackles gleefully, thinking about how little I need, thereby extending the life of the bottle. Dry: It calms down a bit and now definitely has a chocolate quality to it. Sweet and creamy vanilla touched with an icing powder mint. Seriously foody and seriously divine. Throw: Amazing when wet, okay when dry. Overall: A fun, silly scent. I love the creaminess of it and the contrast between the vanilla and the mint. Glad to have a bottle and hope people ask what it is because I love the name.

Bottle courtesy of the lovely ND(cent sign. Eventually I will learn how to make one). Bottle: Smooth and vanilla. Touched with wood. Very, very sweet. Wet: Antikythera Mechanism. I'm prepping an order and spent last night with AM and Great Sword of War on either wrist sniffing to see which I want a bottle of. I think this definitely has the same vanilla as AM, as well as a lot of similar notes. It's a whole lot stronger, though. Dry: Floral, smooth woody vanilla. Really pretty and very soft and feminine. The wood note is really nice in here--it's blends in to an almost creamy finish. Throw: Intense. I applied a drop from the lid and it is POTENT. Overall: I like what I have. It's lovely and will probably see storage until the winter months, but it's very pretty and soft and so feminine and cuddly. Try it if you can.

Blood Rose: A perfect rosy wine with dragon's blood. You smell it and you're like, "Hey, rose, nice" and then the other notes hits and you're just like, "What just happened?" Satyr: An experience, if nothing else. No notes are listed, but most people agree on it being civet and patchouli. Some of us think it smells like poop, some of us think it's smells like the divine poop of a unicorn. Black Anise: also goes down as "An experience." Dark and damp and very cave-y. It smells like evil rocks. Azathoth: Evil grapefruits. Hopefully you like evil things The Caterpillar: Mossy and earthy with a touch of florals and a divine incense. When hippies die and go to the Great Headshop in the Sky, this is what it smells like. Tombstone: Yes, it has vanilla, but it's one of those scents that I wear and people are just like "Is that... perfume?" The Obsidian Widow: Dark, winey, slightly woody and touched with floral. It smells like being in a damp haunted house and smelling the perfume of a ghost. Faustus: The stately, regal older brother to patchouli. It smells kind of like patchouli but not as earthy, and just smells completely dark and sinister. Hope that helps. Let us know what you wind up with and (more importantly!) what works.

Jasmine and honeysuckle are one of my favourite combos and both are great notes to me. The list: Love Me: Of course, only if she's not weirded out by the concept of Voodoo oils. To my nose, this is a perfect jasmine/honeysuckle/lotus with a touch of wood and something slightly musky. Twilight: A really nice honeysuckle/jasmine note topped with lavender. Very womanly and commmanding. Lolita: I think at this point we've rec'ed all the jasmine/honeysuckle blends in the GC. If it doesn't weird you out to give your mother something called Lolita, this is a really pretty verbena/honeysuckle blend. Hermia: A bit of an unusual scent. Sweet and pretty pink pepper with a lovely honeysuckle note and passion flower. Mata Hari: A lovely rose/jasmine blend with some vanilla and coffee. Euphrosyne: Sweet jasmine, gardenia and rose with a nice vanilla base. The Obsidian Widow: This one is really unusual, but I find that the jasmine and attar of rose are a gorgeous blend together. Veil: Just recommending it because it's one of my favourite florals. Sweet purple-blue florals with a touch of sandalwood and that sugared edge you get from TKO and the Perilous Parlor/Attrocious Attic.

Imp: Thin and kind of watery. Strongest smell is saffron. Wet: Underperforming. The red musk seems kind of stubborn and refuses to come out and play. I smell like spicy hay. Dry: HELLO RED MUSK! I AM GLAD TO SEE YOU TOO! Man, this dries down and the red musk is all over me. I like red musk, so it's not an issue, but it definitely takes its sweet time showing up. This smells soft and sweet on me, sort of like dragon's blood but with an extra smack of sexiness. Throw: Very good. Overall: I like it, but it dries down to a sort of less complex Kabuki. If given the choice between the two, I'd take Kabuki any day. May get some wrist time in imp form, but I don't feel compelled to order a bottle.

Imp: Sharp and sweet, a bit powdery smelling. It reminds me of something I used to eat as a kid. Wet: Really bright and yellow. Vetiver is behaving most un-vetiver-y on me. Usually it goes sort of moist earth on my skin. I'm just getting a hint of dark roses and a soft yellow scent that must be the cactus flowers. Dry: Soft and floral. Mainly rose and chysanthemum with a touch of the cactus flower and a light vetiver base. Very unusual. It smells like perfume, but unlike any other perfume I've ever smelled. I like it. Throw: I'd be more enthusiastic if it had better throw, but it's a very in-your-face scent, so it might not be the nicest thing in the world if it was stronger. Overall: I was intrigued by the cactus flowers and they did not disappoint. This is a really lovely, light scent that is perfect for warm weather. I'll definitely be hanging onto my imp.