Thanatopsis Azraelis

The Dark Side of Fire: cinnamon, bitter almond, and neroli. Heavily spiced, torrid, and possibly conflagrant. First of all, I'd like to say that when Elizabeth warned it was "possibly conflagrant", she was not kidding. I had to open the imp with my teeth, and when I did, the fumes scorched the pores of my face. I was a little scared for a minute -- "I'm letting this soak into my skin?" -- but it was fine on my arm, no trouble at all. Just don't put it on sensitive skin and everything will cool. The inital impression is CINNAMON! I mean, cinnamon *attack*. It is strong, strong, strong, and I can't smell anything else under it. After about an hour, though, the almond starts coming out, and later, the neroli. Cinnamon remains the dominant note but weakens as the scent mellows, so you get cinnamon with a nice spicy undercurrent after on drydown. Overall, I really like this scent. It's nice and strong and spicy. If it's what you're looking for you can't go wrong here

One of my favorite scents just got discontinued, and I was wondering if there were any other BPAL scents that smelled similar to it. Or, if I liked Allegory, I should also try [scent x]. I just put in my order for a 10 ML

Couldn't be Typhon, that one's brownish-red and very dark.

This is like a lighter version of Czernobog at first -- the juniper makes it lighter and greener. Unfortunately, from there it just gets progressively dustier until it smells like...well, dirt. And not in a good way. The beginning is nice enough, but the drydown is just that -- far too dry.

Alright. I have no idea what note it is, but one of these resins is vaguely wet and sweet, and it stands above all the others the entire time I wear this scent. I'm pretty sure this same note was the one that made me like Antony so much, too. In any case, I've only been in a Catholic church twice, and I didn't smell any incense burning while I was there, so there's no churchy memories attached to this for me. To me it's just a nice, smooth, resiny scent with an undertone of incense, and as I happen to love the smell of incense, I also love Cathedral. I think I'm one of the few who actually likes this as a scent to wear, and not burn.

This one smells almost exactly like Old Rome to me, but I guess you could imagine they'd smell similar. The difference, however, is that while Old Rome is overpowering and clogs up my sinuses, Nero never does -- I think it's the chamomile in the former which causes the problem. Overall, it's a fresh, masculine scent, sharp and clean, and smells vaguely woody when dry. I wouldn't get a bigger bottle but I'll finish off my imp.

I'd never wear this as it's overwhelmingly feminine, but I must say it conveys the theme very, very well, and smells great. Like other reviewers have said, rose and lily, very pious and appropriate for the Virgin Mary. So appropriate that I dipped my rosary in it. It's nice.

I tried that one, and unfortunately it really wasn't for me. Here's some to try: Czernobog Fenris Wolf Antony Lear Voodoo The Apothecary Vicomte de Valmont Villain Jolly Roger

I rather like this one It's sweet, strong, and has a definite depth of character. "Gentleman werewolf" is the perfect description. It doesn't have much staying power on me, but it has enough, and reapplications are worth it! Amber and musk are wonderful together.

Nnnope. I thought I would really like this one, but I don't really go for spicy scents -- Voodoo being the exception. Those spices mix with the rose in a way that makes it exceedingly...obnoxious, at least on me. It might just be my chemistry, because this smelled pretty good in the bottle, it's just not anything I'd wear.

Not a big fan. To me, it just smells like Inferno, only not as good.

I like this one a lot. When you pull the top off the vial, it swells. I don't know how to explain it but I love opening this imp...and closing it, and opening it again. It's a wonderful scent balanced between wood and citrus. Very light, like j_jj said, and very pleasant.

This is one of my very favorite BPAL scents. It smells a lot like Black Phoenix, except instead of going ultra-feminine on me like Black Phoenix did, it just whirls around in a heady blend of spices. Yum. Spicy. Very spicy. And while it doesn't evoke images of voodoo in particular, I do get very pleasant thoughts of dancing around campfires in Dionysian ecstacy.

Oh, this one is a new favorite. It's amazing. Yes, at first the lotus is overly sweet, but it dries quickly enough and stays on top. The name is very apt -- it's a darkened sort of floral, and evokes some VERY nice mental images for me. it's not too complex and it stays mostly the same throughout the hours. Oh, and layer this with Darkness. The combination is awesome. The notes will work together to subdue the sweet lotus a bit, you get a double dose of myrrh so it shows up more, and a few more florals in the mix. Try it!

This one didn't work very well on me. It started off overly minty and then quickly dried into an unpleasant, dusty smell.

Yep, it's a golden scent. Sort of like Aureus in that respect. Nutty and vanilla and sweet, exuding strength and sexuality. It's odd in that it has a strange sort of unisexness: if a female wore it, it would be lovely and soft and feminine, and if a male wore it, it would be bold and vibrant -- at least that's the impression I get from it. I love this. I haven't tried Snake Oil, so I can't compare it to that, but I'd say it definitely makes me feel...eh, empowered. And great. Hope you know what I mean. It sure smells nice.

Jester, Hurricane, Aureus, and Voodoo!

I'm thinking about getting a custom scent for my birthday, and I was wondering what Beth asks you in order to make the scent?

Wow. I just got this in a swap, and I'm *amazed*. I can smell the bergamot on top, and the musk, but that's it. This scent blends together very, very well. For some reason, to me it smells vaguely smoky, or vaguely worn. Sort of an Aragorn or Captain Jack sort of fellow. Which should tell you that it is incredibly sexy. When I need to attract girls I'm definitely using this one! Love-potion-in-an-imp.

I like cedar and I like florals, so I figured I'd give this one a shot. I wasn't disappointed! It's exactly like the description says. On top, there's a few sweet floral notes that blend together rather uniformly, and under that, an unexpected, darker cedar note. This scent has *depth*. And it smells nice, too. It smells a bit like dial soap when totally dry on me, but other than that, it worked with my chemistry well enough.

This one made the "Favorite Scents" field in my profile. It's very well-rounded and nice without being too complex. I can smell everything in here individually except the juniper berries -- the orchid and bergamot on top give it a sweetness, like the tang of fresh air, and the white musk and patchouli ground it and give it an earthy scent under that freshness. It smells a bit like a cleaner, simpler version of The Apothecary, if anyone's tried that. Wonderful. Like others have said, it's unisex. And fey. Very fey.

Warning: Do not try this scent if you do not like roses. I mean, really like roses. Fortunately, I do, so I quite like this scent. The rose remains dominant the entire time, but I can smell the sweet ylang-ylang under it. It's a little odd, because this scent is actually a bit *musky* on me, which keeps it from being too feminine or cloying It also remains strong for a long time. Yes, I really like this. A must for any fan of roses.

Old Rome didn't really work on me. Like ladylatemar, it ended up being sort of a rosy soap smell, but it lasted a very, very long time. I love roses, so I quite like it actually, but the thing is it clogs up my sinuses something awful I guess I'll just have to pass on this one!

Inferno. Inferno is so cinnamon-y you can't put it on sensitive skin or it burns. It's fine on my arm though.

Which BPAL scents calm you? I was cursing and ranting and had just got done crying, but put on a little Wings of Azrael, and it calmed me. Thanks Beth Do any scents have this effect on the rest of you?