Myrrha

Wet: Vanilla, something creamy and sweet. Probably amber. As it dries: There is a hint of sandalwood but blended into the vanilla. A really interesting note appears, it is like if you took beeswax and turned the honey aspect way down and then added salt to that. It sounds weird but smells very good, I’m guessing this is the ambergris accord. For about ten minutes it adds interest to the vanilla notes and this is an amazingly lovely golden vanilla fragrance. Dry: An aquatic note appears and the ambergris accord gets stronger. It becomes sharper, more of a cologne note. The cologne smells a bit strange with the lovely vanilla part of the scent. I do not like it at this stage, it is too cologne-y. After about a half hour it fades and the scent is now a pretty golden vanilla/sandalwood/amber scent but very faint.

Wet: yum! Tart fruit As it dries: The vanilla base comes out and it is a little strange because the fruits seem separate from the vanilla, as if I’m wearing two separate scents. It is delicious and I can’t stop smelling my wrist. Dry: A little bit of spice comes out and the scent blends more now, so it is a fruity/spicy/vanilla. It is an absolutely wonderful scent. However I would like it better if I didn’t have to put my nose to my wrist in order to smell it. I tested the throw and it is about three inches. It got even fainter after an hour. If this were stronger I might buy a bottle.

French Love is crazy strong with good throw and lasts a long time. I have to be careful not to put more than a drop or two on at one time. It has dragon's blood in it though which smells very different on different people. Event Horizon is strong, the throw is medium but people can smell me from 3-4 feet away when I wear it and it lasts a long time. Dia de Los Muertos is another one that I have to only put on a couple of drops and can still smell me at a distance. Lasts well too and is gorgeous.

Oh dear, I had such hopes for this one. Wet: a blast of red musk. It is very strong and there is a cherry smell with it. The cherry plus red musk is not a nice smell at all and reminds me of public bathroom deodorizer. Almond and anise come out as secondary notes. I love almond but it is really overwhelmed by the other notes. As it dries: The red musk lightens to tolerable levels, the almond disappears and for about 20 minutes it smells like fruity red musk with a twist of anise which is interesting but not something I want to smell like. Dry: Straight fruity red musk. The fruit note is no longer recognizable as cherry. I am starting to think I should just avoid the strong red musk scents. It is probably much nicer on someone with a different skin chemistry.

Wet: At first there is a bit of green along with the coconut and fig As it dries: The green gets lighter. It is mostly gentle almond, coconut and fig. Dry: Sweet but not cloying. I like it very much but it seems very light on me. I can only smell it when I put my nose up against my wrist and I put two dips of the wand on my wrists. I may try again with another imp.

I tried this again after falling in love with Vice to see if I like it better than the first time I tried it. Wet: The chocolate note is sweeter than the chocolate in Vice. I like it. As it dries: The vanilla, a soft creamy note, and the Snake Oil (sort of like Shalimar) come out and waft around. Dry: Unfortunately the rich chocolate note fades quite a bit and I'm left with something like Shalimar but sweeter and rounder. It smells OK, but not really wonderful. Other reviews have said there is patchouli in this and usually I don't like patchouli at all but here it must be blended in really well because I don't notice it. Is there tobacco in this? It reminds me of those chocolate cigarettes. Very little throw, medium lasting power. This is one that I can imagine other people might think it smells like baby powder.

oops! duplicate post

Maybe Florence or Venice? Both of these really smelled like scents from another time to me and might be nice to smell while you listen to renaissance music. Rosalind or others in the Ilyria section might appeal to you. Dragon's Reverie or Dragon's Heart might be nice for your cubicle. If you put a few drops on a paper towel and put that near your computer you will be able to smell it but it won't scent up the whole place. The part about colorful 60's and 70's clothing, bright colors and frou-frou is paradoxical, maybe Queen Alice? It is a bit quirky but still somehow serious. That part about not standing out enough... if you could find something that is very distinctive but also quite wearable, something not attention-getting in the snake oil sense but that people will remember, and then wear it frequently you might feel more unique. Blue jeans dressed up with jackets and boots... so many would go with that. Have you tried Haramise? It seemed really distinctive and elegant to me but chestnut isn't for everybody. Have you tried Chimera? The part about dark colors feeling cozier made me think of it. It is a comforting cinnamon scent made into a perfume with myrrh. Others that might seem cozy and comfortable are Dragon's Heart (although on some people the dragon's blood can be a bit attention-getting), Yvaine (comforting for those who find lavender relaxing and very much an introverted scent). The Apothecary might go with your outdoor hobbies and it would smell nice without attracting a lot of attention. I think there is tea in it. The part about your artwork and illustration made me think of The Tree of Knowedge of Good and Evil. It is complex and sort of subdued and bright at the same time. It is fruity but the fruits aren't really recognizable. Something creative about it. You will need a bunch of scents anyway since you get bored easily. For me: I'm pretty introverted. I do warm up a bit with friends but often would rather be alone. I like to talk and think about serious things, like the next world, spiritual life, finding meaning in life, but I'm not intellectual or academic. I try to lighten up a bit and I do appreciate humor in other people. I draw and paint but am not a professional artist. I love tarot, renaissance illuminations, calligraphy, angels, indoor plants. I listen almost exclusively to opera and metal, especially the heavy, dark slow styles. I am very polite (a great defense) and try to be kind to other people but it is difficult sometimes. Beauty is important to me, both in the abstract sense and in trying to look my best. I often feel unsuccessful at this. I have chin length curly dark brown/black hair and brown eyes, wear mostly black, grey, blue, dark magenta, jeans almost all the time with blouses or nice t-shirts and jewelry. Any recommendations appreciated.

Wet: a light, understated lilac scent with a bit of purple fruit. The fruit does not get fake and plastic on me. As it dries: the leather comes out and the purple fruit becomes a background note. Dry: Something about this tickles my nose. It is a nice, light, feminine scent but with a bpal twist. The leather keeps it from smelling very young or like a typical fruity-floral. There are so many really special and outstanding BPAL scents to choose from, I feel like this is nice but not as wonderful as many other scents in the GC. If you are specifically looking for a fruity floral but want something more grown up and elegant this might be one to try.

Wet: at first it is very sour on me, I suspect the pineapple. The seltzer is really there and really fizzy. How strange! The sourness goes away after a few minutes. As it dries: I think the “hazy amber” in this blend is the same or quite similar to the “grey amber” used in Bat. It is a bit sweetish and gives a depth to the scent. Dry: Now it is strongly floral with fruit. The amber really is a bit hazy and adds interest. Basically it is a warm, golden fruity floral. The fruits and amber are adding up to something a bit too warm and sticky smelling for me to enjoy.

Rats! I was really hoping to love this one. I like rose scents and can never understand why others don't. This is why. The rose note is deep and rich, which is good, but it also smells somehow harsh. It tickled my nose. I guess it is just too strong. Frankincense is not the best note on me. Here it just adds more fume-y dryness to the already harsh rose. This one did not morph much once the frankincense came out. I washed it off after an hour.

If I'm applying right from a bottle I use a toothpick or decapitated q-tip. I only dip the q-tip into the oil once, and then swipe it onto my wrists or neck. If I dip the toothpick deeply into the oil there will be enough on my wrist that I can transfer some to behind my ears, cleavage, underarms wherever. Plastic q-tips are hollow and some oil gets in there like a little pipette and you can blow it out into a puddle on your wrist and then put it anywhere. The oils I use most often I decant into imp vials and just use the imp-wand as this is easier and the bottle is less likely to be spilled. I am a great believer in inverting the bottles and even imps a few times and taking two minutes or so to gently roll them every which way. Before I started rolling the imps I noticed a couple that smelled one way at the start of the imp and a completely different way toward the end (Black Lily was one and another was House of Night). I also suspect that a certain amount of the changes people ascribe to aging are actually from the oils not getting mixed properly each time they are used so some components settle to the bottom and aren't used up as quickly. I do notice a difference with some back up partials I've gotten in the swaps where the oil doesn't smell as fresh as my own bottle even when they are the same age. They just smell a bit more blended and the fragrance looses definition. I thought this was people applying right from the bottle and introducing skin oil into the bottle but i could be wrong.

Thank you to ChaosKitty for the tester. On me wet this had a delicate citrus-y orange blossom scent combined with what I think is the tea. Usually I like orange blossom but this one has more of an orange scent and combined with the tea it does something strange. Or is it the karakarounde which according to other reviews is a flower of some kind? By strange I mean... there is a note here that is unusual and sort of seductive and repellant at the same time. Once it dried the rich wood note and the opoponax (I think I recognize this note from Death of the Grave Digger) come out. I like the light incense feel of the scent. The strange note mellows into something a bit like nag champa and this becomes a light incense/floral scent. I like it. There is something very sensual about this scent but it is still light. It is gently, persistently seductive and nothing at all like a mainstream perfume.

At first I can smell the slightly violet-like orris along with the plum note. The plum is phony at first but plastic note goes away. Then the grapefruit becomes the standout note. At this point I think it is too much citrus. Maybe I'll save the imp for the hot days in summer. After about a half hour everything blends together and it becomes a wonderful sweet-tart, slightly powdery-in-a-good-way, elegant scent. After wearing it most of the evening I thought it was too sweet and sticky. The plum in Megaera dries down to something similar to the pomegranate in Fruit of Paradise but Megaera is a sweeter and somehow more syrupy or sticky scent. I prefer the fresh tartness of Fruit of Paradise.

Honey-sweet but not the smooth sweetness of Les Bijoux. It might be the labdanum or slightly sharp ylang ylang that gives this sweetness a more interesting slightly acrid quality. It is very strong and the first few minutes it was on it reminded me of bathroom deodorizer. Once it is dry I like it much better. I actually like the harsher sweetness. It is a very sexy scent but more casual and less obviously sexy than, for example, Sed non Satiata. I'm not sure I would want something this sweet often enough to buy a bottle but I do like it. EDIT: I've been wearing this every day since I tried it. It is amazing. I need at least a couple more imps of this, possibly a bottle.

I love the lightness and ethereal whiteness of this scent. However there is a sharp note from the "white resins." The resin scent is a little bit like very faint turpentine with a slight citrus. I wonder if it is elemi? Edite to add: Trying it again on a very warm summer evening, I notice that the floral notes come out much more strongly after about a half hour. It is a very interesting transluscent white floral but the sharp resins keep it from having anything cloying about it. I can't stop sniffing my wrist. Love this one!

Tiger-lily, ginger root, neroli, purple fruits, and frankincense. A frimp from the lab. Thank you! At first, wet, this is very soapy. I love floral scents and lily usually works well on me so I'm surprised. It seems to be the lily note that is soapy and sharp. Once it dries it is mostly frankincense with a sweetness to it that I guess is the purple fruit. I *think* I can still smell the lily, still a little soapy, on top of the frankincense but only when I put my nose to my wrist. This scent just doesn't glow or bloom on my skin. I put rather a lot on and I can't smell it from a few inches away. I really think frankincense is not a good note on me. Later, I can smell the lovely lily note, not soapy anymore, just faintly and buried under the dull frankincense. So sad. If frankincense is a great note on you and you like floral scents definitely try this one.

I tried this one on a weekend morning before showering because I suspect I will not want to wear it all day. The imp was fresh from the lab. Wet: All I can smell is vetiver. I am not a vetiver fan and it is hard to make out any other notes. As it dries: OK, it is vetiver and fig. Dry: Something lovely and very sweet comes out. Sweetened vetiver and fig (might also be smelling the tamarind because there are lighter somewhat tart whiffs too). I can smell the frankincense now but only because I'm looking at the notes. I don't get the "dirty feet" smell that is usually there in blends with patchouli. 20 minutes or so: It lightens up a bit. I actually like this more than I thought I would. Once fully dry it doesn't seem so masculine. It is very earthy though. It makes me feel very grounded and calm. I don't get any sinister overtones from the scent, but that fits with how I view the Nephilhim. I'm going to hang on to my imp because it just might end up being something I wear in the fall.

On me this is a very balanced scent at first, I can smell the rose, the coconut and the orris. After about an hour the rose fades into the background and it is a lovely coconut orris with a tint of rose. Very beautiful. It is a very smooth, soft scent. There are no rough or sharp notes at all. Lately I've been enjoying florals that are a bit more crisp so I'm not sure about this one. I feel I might get bored with roses and pearls, with the niceness and sweetness of this blend and start looking around for a snake or a toad. It made me feel relaxed and beautiful, maybe this is the "vacation" feeling scent I've been looking for. I will try it again before deciding on a bottle. Edit: On trying it again the rose notes did not seem to be working so well on my skin.

I received a frimp of the Ghost and scent-wise it is my absolute favorite. LOVE. However, like a ghost it disappears quickly and completely. Is there anything similar in the catalog? I do have some Witching Time of Night which seems a bit similar, and had a decant of Bat last summer, am planning to get some more soon. Is there anything else I should know about? thanks!!

The first time I tried this scent I thought it was gorgeous dark roses and beeswax. Now, trying it again, it seems lighter and sweeter. As it dries it goes through a phase where it feels flat on my skin. Either the frankincense or the beeswax is not working quite right. Then it dries down to a sweet and slightly powdery resin scent with rose in the background. It is a a little similar to Lilith except that Lilith is quite a bit darker. Parlement of Foules is also similar. The beeswax and frankincense make St. Foutin warmer than either of the others, a slightly golden fuzz of powdery resin with roses and a little wine. I like this one.

Wet: At first it is just an OK smelling, feminine scent with a bit of an aquatic feel, nothing special. As it dries: About four minutes later I am surrounded with the most incredible, delicious scent, the combination of cherry blossoms and delicate fruit with tea. Kaki is a Japanese persimmon, Mikan is the Japanese name for those tiny Satsuma mandarine oranges and Yuzu is an aromatic citrus. The scent doesn't smell like citrus to me at all, the vague fruit scent combining with the cherry blossom isn't sharp or orange-y. The tea is noticeable for a moment but then it combines with the other notes. Dry: It is a sweet and feminine scent, delicate but not high-pitched. The combination of fruit, flowers and tea is very wearable. I think even people who don't like floral scents might like this one. The scent is just magical but very light. It only lasts about an hour on me. It doesn't last long but this might be nice in the summer when I want something very light for frequent re-application. This is one of the most beautiful BPAL scents I've tried. Many thanks to Edensixthday for the frimp.

I've gone through a couple of the little squirts that were around before this spray was released. This is the most wonderful scent. It is the kind of rose that is in the Caswell-Massey rosewater and glycerine soap: a light, almost watery tea rose. Along with that there is some light powdery scent, probably the orris? Or violet? It is delicate, cool and PERFECT. I am sad to hear from previous reviewer that the released version is different. Maybe they just made the released version a little stronger?

Wet: starts off with quite a bit of musk, sandalwood and rose. It is a perfumy, dry scent. As it dries: the rose note blends with the musk/sandalwood. At this point I can’t really smell any distinct flowers, I guess it is rose and jasmine together blended with the other notes. Dry: It has calmed down a little bit and it is just a blend of the rose/floral scent and the musk/sadalwood. This faded quite a bit after two hours into a sort of sandalwood/floral scent. It actually smells like a much more natural, toned down and less overtly floral version of Joy. Not as exuberant as Joy but someone looking for a reserved, dry, understated rose scent might like this one.

Wet: Yum! I can smell the chestnut, a little bit foody but in a woody way. It smells sweet but refined and elegant at the same time. As it dries: It is a clear, light scent but with the round note of chestnut. It doesn’t have the thick rich buttery-ness of Judith and Holofernes. It feels comforting but at the same time elegant. Dry: (about 20 minutes) It is more perfumy now as the florals have come out. I think I can recognize the osmanthus and magnolia but the scent doesn’t scream “floral” at all. The chestnut doesn’t stand out as much but blends with everything else. There is a delicate powdery note, maybe the rice powder? It smells like a terrifically elegant expensive perfume- not from a department store but from some small boutique in Japan where they sell high-fashion clothing in neutral colors. The throw is light, definitely a scent that invites someone to come closer.