donnatron

Roses are one of my favourite notes and there's a really good variety of them in the BPAL catalogue. Your mom may wind up going through a few imp packs before finding the perfect one. From the GC: Two Five and Seven: A blend of many different roses with a touch of grass. It's really fresh and pretty, but definitely has more of a pink feel than a red feel. Moon Rose: from Rappaccini's Garden. A very soft pink rose scent. It has moonflower and a dew bouquet. Black Rose: Has rose with a musk (think it's red musk, but I'm unsure) amd amber. It's really sweet and womanly. Blood Rose: I it find to be really lush. Blood Rose is a bit darker and wetter in scent than Black Rose. It has rose with wine and dragon's blood notes. Harlot: The name may not be the greatest if your mother is conservative or if people will be asking her what she's wearing, but it's a slightly spiced rose. It really lets the rose shine through as the main note. Rose Cross: More agreeable if anyone asks what she's wearing. Really beautiful, slightly incensey mixture of rose and frankincense. Lucy's Kiss: Also soft and gentle, mixture of rose with some spice. Marie: Sweet and clean violet-tea rose scent. Really womanly and pretty.

Unprompted compliment getters: Snake Oil: I know. Everyone says Snake Oil. I'm not even fussy about Snake Oil myself, but I have a bottle and I wear it every once in awhile and everybody else loves it. I've been told it smells like rootbeer and cookies or I have one friend who announces that I smell like sex every time I wear it. Kabuki: I get unsolicited compliments on this all the time. It's really unusual so people take notice of it, and red musk is a sort of undeniably scent-on-skin scent that they also know that it's not a pot pourri or incense. The Caterpillar: Every time I've been complimented on this, it's always a woman who compliments, and then she'll tell me that she loves LUSH and it smells like something LUSH would have produced. Then I give her the URL and a new addict is born. The Attrocious Attic: The vanilla/lavender/florals combo is really potent and has a sort of really sugary edge to it. Attracts the sweet tooths. Blood Rose: Men like Blood Rose. Unsolicited compliments from men have come my way while I'm wearing Blood Rose. And luckily it's a sexy scent without smelling sleazy or cheap, so for the most part it's just been polite compliments on my perfume.

Voting for Rakshasa here. It's a really nice, earthy scent and the rose works really well. If you don't mind having a few more notes, To a Woman sounds up your alley. The notes are: Benzoin, cassis bud, patchouli, rose otto, and petitgrain. Benzoin adds a really nice sweet, cologney note to a lot of perfume oils.

On the Shanghai front, you could try Cordelia from the Illyria section. It's sort of a clean green tea scent. Embalming Fluid from Ars Moriendi is a favourite among the forum and the musk note tends to help it linger. You might want to try other fruit scents from the Mad Tea Party for Cheshire Cat. Frumious Bandersnatch is a spicy plum/carnation scent. Tweedledee has a really lingering kumquat. If you're willing to buy a limited edition bottle, Carnival Diabolique from CD is a really lovely spicey lemon scent. It's got the citrus element but is a bit more sweet/musky than Cheshire Cat and Shanghai. ETA: You can also try the Beyond Perfumes section in BPAL chatter. It has a lot of handy tips on improving wearlength and throw from mixing in with carrier oils to using a scent locket.

Yeah. I wear sweet scents a lot and definitely get a lot of interest from wasps and bees. They don't bother me but it freaks a lot of my friends out, so I have to really rethink my BPAL strategy for the summer.

I think sugar cane must be a pretty rare/expensive note, because it's not really featured in a lot of GC scents. It's the last listed ingredient in Horreur Sympathique which, from memory was sort of like a softer, sweeter and gentler Blood Kiss. I have a sense that it might not be prominent enough for what you want. shango also has sugar cane but I also recall it being more of just a bright, fruity scent rather than featuring the sugar cane to any extensive degree. Dorian and Fairy Market also have pretty prominant "sugared" notes. The Dodo from Mad Tea Party is probably your best bet. I find it very sweet and candied with a really dark and seductive edge from the red musk. If it doesn't affect you in a sleepy way, TKO has a great sugared vanilla note. It's very sweet and luscious and really lends a beautiful edge to the whole scent.

Today did not have an auspicious start because I spilled Lady of Shalott all over myself, but it had worn off by the time I went to my barbeque. I wore Beaver Moon 07 and it garnered many compliments as well as snickers. And we stood around a Canada Day cake and sang (as much as you can) the (former) Hockey Night in Canada song. Good times were had by all. Thanks, Beaver Moon!

Popping back in because I realized how perfect this choice would be: Water of Notre Dame. And last night I went to bed wearing Yvaine and it was a nice chilly lavender.

Lady of Shalott probably my favourite aquatic. It's got a beautiful aquatic note with florals and a tiny hint of ginger. Soothing and pretty and ever so feminine. I'm also an Amsterdam fan and love the tulip and grass notes alongside the aquatics, but I find it has no wearlength or throw on my chemistry.

Nanshe from the Somnium collection is a nice bright citrus intended for prophetic dreams. Schrodinger's Cat also has a nice oakmoss base in it to keep it from smelling too sunshiney. It's not citrusy, but Leanan Sidhe is sort of dewey and fresh and really nice and refreshing without being too invigorating.

I got a barbeque to attend so I'm either doing Hexennacht (mainly for the pine note, but also because it's piney and refreshing, not overwhelming) or Beaver Moon (I figure it's appropriate ). If I had Rose Red I'd wear that in honour of PM Trudeau, who I am very fond of, but then got to thinking about what our current Prime Minister would smell like. If was going for the Harper je ne sais quois it would either be Miskatonic Valley Junior Baseball Association or the Robotic Scarab. On the Szepasszony, feel free to disregard me because I am Canadian and have a warped perception of what equals "hot" and "cold" but Szepasszony doesn't feel exceptionally cold to me. It's more of a warm spring garden rain than something cold. From the GC, I'd say the coldest scent is probably Ultraviolet, all it's not particularly fall-y. If you're willing to get a bottle/hunt for a decant, I'd rec Cloister Graveyard in the Snow or The Death of the Gravedigger from the Salon.

While reading your description I was just like "Florence! Pick Florence!" Brisingamen has a similar amber note and it's not an overbearing scent. If it makes you feel confident, go for it.

Bordello sounds like a good bet, and I know you have plenty on hand Otherwise something kind of gritty and metallic speaks to me. Galvanic Goggles, maybe? Robotic Scarab?

I know it's my standard cry in this thread, but Coyote! It's a nice, warm scent that is natural enough that it could potentially just be how nice you smell. Otherwise, I kind of get a kick out of you wearing a scent called Perversian to a job interview. Also: I did not know that it snowed in New Zealand. I don't quite know why I thought it didn't but I am intellectually richer for this thread. The more you know...

Three honeys blended with seven fruits, flowers, and herbs of passion, pleasure, and joy: honeysuckle, fig, carnation, apricot, jasmine, tonka, and almond. Bottle: Sort of a sweet, sandy smell. I think one of the honeys is the same as Cleopatra Testing Poisons. Wet: Oh yeah, definitely Cleopatra's honey. The smell morphs into a brief sour phase but quickly warms into a gorgeous, soft honey touched with flowers. One of the honey notes smells a bit dry and sandy--this isn't a bad thing, it smells very warm and inviting with an undercurrent of poison. It's a very evocative scent. Dry: HONEYSUCKLE! The honeysuckle is strong in this one, actually dominating the honey scent. I get a touch of almond and jasmine and I think the apricot has gone dusty, as it is want to do. This complements the hot, sandy honey scent. Throw: The honey is personal but the honeysuckle and jasmine are pretty intense. Overall: I'm very glad to have acquired a bottle. This is really sultry and pretty and perfect for the rainy weather we're having right now. It's like wearing snuggles.

I wouldn't worry. I looked up the description and was like "Chocolate, booze and blood? This sounds like Thursdays perfume heaven!"

I'd definitely stay in the GC for a wedding scent, because it would probably suck to have a lovely memory associated with a scent that is increasingly scarcer and expensive. Baghdad is lovely and spicy and very commanding to my nose. Bengal is a bit softer and creamier, but honey may not work on her. I'd either put a lab order for imps in now or buy a few off the sales/swaps forums. A sample imp pack: Morocco: It's a favourite around the forums and has a nice creamy spiciness to it. Bengal: Honey is a weird note, so it's best to try it out before the big day. Queen of Sheba: Honey again along with almond. But it's definitely a cute name for a bridal scent. Baghdad: It's sexy without being sleazy and it's a really pretty blend. It might be a bit overbearing for the heat of August, though. The Lion: Amber again is a problematic note for some, but it's a pretty concept and might be appealing to her. Bastet: The saffron and cardamom might be just up her alley. Another amber scent, though.

From your imp list, Coyote jumped out at me. I grew up in the prairies, so I find that hot grass/skin scent very comforting and it's a very personal scent, so you don't have to worry about offending anyone else. Golden Priapus is also comforting and unusual without being overbearing. It smells nie but it doesn't smell cologne-y. I'd say the manliest scent you have on hand is Titus Andronicus, but I know on me it's pretty potent, so you might want to test it first.

Imp from Mamacat. Imp: This smells like Prince Edward Island. My mouth goes dry when I smell it because I just imagine all that red dirt in my mouth during a windstorm. I'm so-so on dirt scents, so this is an adventure! Wet: Mmm, there is a beautiful sweet, soft floral-vanilla developing here. The perfume reminds me of the "long faded perfumes" note from Antique Lace. A beautiful soft floral and a nice sweetness. The dirt lends a really good base note. Dry: The dirt softens a bit more so this smells more feminine. It's perfectly evocative of real penny dreadfuls--if I had a moustache I would be twirling it right now. It's really, really unusual but so gorgeous. Definitely a head-turning scent. Throw: Good. The "perfume" note throws further than the earth. Overall: I really like this. I sort of wanted to try it for the hell of it, but now I'm quite taken with it. I'll keep my eyes open on the forums or note to remember it on my next lab order.

Bottle: Orange peel and amber. Amber usually tramps all over the other scents when I smell them in the bottle. It's like a weird black hole of scent. I know it's amber because I can't really smell anything. Wet: Musk! Lots and lots of beautiful, billowing red musk. Then it starts to smell like rootbeer. Which is okay. I like rootbeer. The rootbeer stage lasts for a few minutes and then the marigold and chamomile creep out. Especially from far away, I smell the florals and the orange peel. It's dominantly marigold but I get a faint hint of my precious chamomile and a whisper of elderflower. I can't really detect rue. The dragon's blood resin is surprisingly well behaved. It just adds a sexy sweetness overall. Dry: It's very similar to the tail end of the dry down. The dragon's blood is a bit more present and I definitely get the marigold strong and clear. This is sexy in a weird sort of way. In my mind, it evokes lying in the garden with the one you love right at dusk. It does smell like an August type of scent, sort of languid and sultry. It's a hot scent but it's reigned in enough that it's not overwhelming for hot weather. Throw: Good. The florals throw, the musk and amber stay close to the skin. Overall: I'd sort of forgotten I own this. It's good thing I discovered I had it at the beginning of summer and not the end.

Centzon Totochin! I'd totally forgotten that one exists! I'll have to hunt down an imp and see if my wallet will stop weeping as September inches nearer. Thanks for all the recs, guys. It's a pretty weird scent to like, even in the perfumiverse that is BPAL.

Wilde and to a lesser extent, Casanova. To my nose they both have a sharp soapy quality, and I think it's the tonka, because I also smell it in the drydown of Hony Mone.

Ooh, ooh! New one! Also could layer well with Black Annis. Mort de Cesar! I got my bottle of it yesterday and had it on one wrist. I let my boyfriend smell it and he was like, "Um... sweetie? What's in that?" I told him the list and he nodded appreciatively when I got to "blood accord." He works in the funeral industry and he was like "It smells like the embalming room when you get an autopsy or trauma victim in." I don't share that thought and he is freaked out by Valentine of Rome (also blood accord) but kind of likes it, whereas he was viscerally turned off by MdC. Other Mike Myers: I came into this thread to yelp "Cheshire Cat!!" a few times.

Bottle: Mmm... this is a delicious clove touched with watery amber--amber always smells watery to my nose before it hits the skin. Wet: I pout a little because this smells almost exactly like Lycaon. It's spicy and exotic, but in a manly sort of way. It's a very masculine scent. The amber blooms and goes a bit sour on my skin before settling down. The blood accord is peaking out with a tinge of metal. Dry: OMG. This is Lycaon but BETTER. It still reminds me strongly of Lycaon, but it's wetter and more sensual than Lycaon. This is definitely a heavy, creepy scent and the blood accord is AMAZING. I'm a little creeped out that I'm so in love with smelling like viscera, but I don't care. This scent is amazing. Throw: Really good. I put this on around 12-12:30 and it is still wafting off my arm in great clouds. Overall: Blood accord. Seriously. Who would have thought it would be so amazing? This is definitely going to get serious attention after summer (or on cold days).

This is more of a bottle issue than an oil issue. I have a colbalt bottle of Psyche that I received in a swap so it's of indeterminate age, but I think pre-2006. Every time I apply from the rim, I get little flecks of black--I think the oil is breaking down the plastic in the cap. I have colbalt bottles of Regan, Blood Moon and Harvest Moon 05 and don't have this issue with any of them. I have wand caps on Blood Moon and Harvest Moon. Should I switch Psyche to a wand cap, or is this a sign of the end times for my oil?