marcielynnt

Alas, this proves to me that dragon's blood and I should not mix. I like the other notes, the fruits and florals sweetly blending, but the dragon's blood seeps through it all and corrupts all the other scents.

In the decant I get the smell of vinegar, and something darker... smoke? It's a scent I also pick up from Brimstone, and I don't like it. Wet, the vinegar is less pronounced, but I don't smell wine, exactly. The dark, smoky stench is still there, and still unpleasant. Dry, this mellows and sweetens slightly. If not for hints of that smoky scent I think I might like it. This may be something I have to try again. It certainly gets nicer as it spends more time on my skin.

Oh my. From the start, in the decant and wet on my skin I smell blackberries. Rich, ripe blackberries, in a deep forest, on a warm day, but not too long after a rainfall. As this dries the blackberries remain, but with just a hint of lemon, and the musk creeping through to hold things together. If I try really hard I can see how some people might be getting a cleanser note, but I'm enjoying this scent far too much to let myself think of it that way. Delicious!

This one morphs hugely on me. In the decant and wet on my skin this has a very strong scent that I can't quite pin down, but I can say is not entirely pleasant. After forcing myself to wait for drydown, though, it changes, turning into a strong, but rather nice sun block scent. Later still that scent mellows into something slightly different and more subtly floral. Rather pretty, actually, but not really me. I'll have to see if it grows on me in future trials.

I like this one a lot! In the decant it's a soft, warm blend of fruit and florals. Wet, the peach comes out first, the same fresh peach that I get from Belle Vinu, with perhaps just a hint of mandarin. Bit by bit, the florals come out more, giving this (to me) a real springtime scent. Dry, this is even warmer, and lighter, but it still has a good throw, and seems to last well. The blend of fruit and flowers melds and mellows over times, to balance nicely.

This would seem to be one of those scents, like Anne Bonny, that I'm just not able to really smell. In the decant I smell next to nothing, and I pick up even less on my skin, wet. Dry I can, perhaps, detect just a hint of spice and wood, so mild that I can't really say for sure if it's the oil, or the remnants of the soap I used earlier. I'm sad. I'd had very high hopes for this one.

In the imp this is a dark, strong, woody smell. There's no hint of sweetness to it. Wet, I can very faintly smell a dark spiciness. It tickles my nose without having a strong scent. Dry... nothing. If I press my nose against my skin I can maybe, maybe smell a hint of that darkness, but aside from that it's totally gone. My husband says he thinks he can smell something, but so faintly that he's not completely sure. My skin just seems to drink this into non-existence.

This came as a frimp with my latest order. In the imp and wet, it's a strong, heady apricot, with an undercurrent of something dark and woody. I only start smelling the brandy side as the apricot starts to fade. Alas, it does fade fast. An hour after applying, the scent is very soft, but still that lovely blend of apricot and wood, with just a delicate hint of booze. I like this one quite a bit, but I do wish it was slightly stronger/longer lasting. I'll have to experiment with the amount I put on.

At first this is a straight sweet vanilla on me. I was really hoping for something that mixed the spiciness of Scherezade with a touch of creamy sweetness, but the spice seems to be missing for me Half an hour later I can just smell a touch of something else... maybe very, very light spice, a touch of musk, but overall it's the vanilla that wins out. Not a bad scent, certainly, but not what I was looking for.

I don't think anyone has yet mentioned Belle Vinu from Marchen. The listed notes are: Red sandalwood, vanilla, rosewood, osmanthus, and white peach. To me it's got a very strong fresh peach smell, but somehow not in a really foody way. And I find it very, very addictive

Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions! I'd not realized that Morocco had a vanilla feel, but now it goes to the top of my "to try" list. Bengal interests me too, and Pickled Imp could be good, though I wish i could try it in imp size before getting a full bottle. I'm a bit wary of both the Antikythera Mechanism and The Illustrated Woman, simply because of the tobacco notes. I ordered an imp of Plunder in my last batch (and actually received two) and it was one of the blends that didn't work on me at all, I think because of the tobacco, though I could be wrong. I really am still trying to figure out what notes work and don't work for me, and I'm not doing too well at it Ah well. Hopefully I'll learn more through experimentation.

Hi, people I'm quite new to BPAL (made my first order this October, and this is my first post) but I'm already noticing a few trends to my tastes. My nose isn't experienced enough yet to pick up on many individual notes, but vanilla seems to be one that's common to many of my favorites so far. I love Dorian, Eclipse, and Belle Vinu, all of which mention having vanilla notes. On the other hand, I also really like Scherezade, The Raven, and Ozymandias, which seem incensey/spicy/musky/woody. I don't think I really really want straight foody scents, but I'd love to find more scents that bend the vanilla with the spicy, incense/wood notes. I've never been a fan of patchouli, but I guess it might work for me in blends, so I won't rule out scents that use it. Suggestions?