heatherovka

Can anyone tell me which dragon's blood scents are more resinous? Bpal's dragon's blood is usually very floral on me. Dragon's Milk and Blood Amber are both very nice but the db smells like lilac on my skin. I have not yet tried Dragon's Heart or Musk but I would like to. Sadly, I never got to try Tintagel. Just wondering if anyone can recommend a very resinous/incensy (but not smoky) dragon's blood. And, what is the difference, scent-wise, between dragon's blood and daemondrops?

I had to test this a few times before I could form a good opinion. It really had me stumped for a while. I sought this one out because I amber and saw it recommended for amber lovers. I dislike the scent in the vial and during the wet stage. I guess that would be the oudh. I am not very familiar with that note, but I think it smells off to me. Chemically, sharp, almost acrid? It isn't terrible, but I don't find it to be very pleasant. The magic comes once the oil warms and soaks into my skin. That unpleasantness gradually fades away. Then I get the wonderful amber I expected, along with a beautiful, deep vanilla. I'm not sure if the oudh is still there or if it has just changed to something I like (a lot) better. It doesn't have a lot of throw and it is a soft, quiet, snuggly yet sophisticated scent. It fades within a couple of hours, and after that I get occasional and fleeting ghostly wafts of lovely fragrance that seem to come out of no where. The amber is rich and spicy and I do think it is similar to Amber Sultan. It is really nice. I'll definitely use up my decant.

Very sweet and fruity (cherry! strawberry! vanilla!) at first, reminds me of a red dum-dum lollipop. Candy rather than actual fruit. Then I get the heliotrope and snake oil, and it goes slightly plastic-y on my skin. One of the notes is just not working for me - maybe the heliotrope. I am left with a very-subtle-fruity snake oil. I am struggling to find the red musk. Not bad, but I wish I could smell more of the amber and red musk...

Thank you Floria and Ella!

My current favorites: Bastet Fenris Wolf Lyonesse Scherezade Sin And runners-up: Anne Bonny, Coyote, The Lion, Snake Oil I generally stick to the GC but all recs are welcome. It is so interesting to see how my list has changed over time. Hardly any fruit or floral show up anymore. Resin, musk, wood, spice. Yum! (Edited to add: I seem to love red and golden scents, and 'hot' scents or scents that evoke warmth... if that helps...) Thanks!

That sounds fantastic, thanks for mentioning it! On my list so far is Black Annis, Kyoto, a plain old aniseed/star anise EO, and now Genteel. It is hard to tell what will come closest to my scent memory, but it will also be fun to see if I like the ones that don't.

Ahh! Ok, thank you! Now it makes sense to me why I didn't seem to be finding the types of descriptions I was looking for in the reviews. I am pretty sure she did say star anise. Mmmmm, I think a chinese 5-spice scent would be really yummy!

I hadn't been drawn to the anise scents until I met a girl who told me that she wears a single note of star anise. She mentioned soap making and that it was one of her favorites. On her it smelled very spicy-herbal and earthy - almost like a subtle patchouli (delicious...!). I was really surprised when she said it was anise because it didn't smell like licorice candy to me. Are there any scents in the GC like this? Black Annis? Or maybe Absinthe? Thanks!!

This is really lovely. Yummy leather and rosewood. A little spicy, but soft. It does have a sophisticated feel too it, and an old library kind of feel. Old world sexy? I think it leans towards masculine, but I enjoy it on myself too. But I need to convince hubby to put it on more often.

I haven't tried too many of the bizarre oils yet. I got a frimp of Brimstone. I thought it smelled interesting in the imp, so I put it on. Whoa. Something about it made me nauseous. It wasn't pleasant. It wasn't absolutely horrible smelling, but it really did make my stomach knot up. I haven't experienced that kind of negative physical reaction with bpal before.

These are my first impressions only, as I have only tried my imp once so far! Very nice amber. I had forgotten that this had musk in it, and I honestly did not identify that note (either it is very subtle on me or I just didn't pick it out). It seems to me to be a fairly classic 'amber' - a little spicy, deep, and rich, however it is more complex than a single note amber. It has a little bit of a lemony accent to it, but it definitely is not in-your-face-lemons. I smelled the lemon more when I pressed my nose to my skin, and a general nice cloud of amber pleasantness around me. Hours later, I was very surprised to smell vanilla and little else! A powdery, ambery vanilla, but yes, vanilla. Good lasting power on me, but perhaps not a lot of throw. My impressions: not dark, fairly light actually. I love amber so naturally I like this. I'll update this after I give it a few more tries.

This was a frimp from the lab and it is really pretty! I'm not entirely sure what orris smells like, but I get lush rose with a creamy light coconut. Who knew they would smell so great together? I do sometimes get the slightest hint of eau-de-bugspray, but it doesn't bother me and DH says he doesn't smell that. And after having so many fade away way too quickly on me recently, I'm happy that this BPAL seems to actually last. I'm thinking that I tend to do that with rose scents. This has been a really pleasant surprise!

I really like this, but lil Alice fades away to nothingness soooo quickly on me. I put on a generous amount and two hours later I was sniffing all over and couldn't tell that I had ever put anything on. I'm starting to think my skin is the type that 'eatz teh BPALs'. Boo. My hubby says this will be a good one to wear for him though, he likes the real subtle, up-close scents. Maybe I'll have better luck with it lasting the next time I wear it. While it lasted, I definitely smelled the carnation and the bergamot. Not a whole lot of milk, but I think it was there. Nice. Sweet but not too sweet, quiet and polite. Just wish it would stick around a little longer.

What I wanted was the scent of one of those creamy coconut ice cream bars. Yum... This is close, I think. When I first opened the imp and took a sniff, it smelled a little odd and off-putting... almost rancid?? It wasn't the creamy, milky coconut meat smell I expected. I don't know why, it just smelled a little tiny bit sour/rotten to me. I didn't hesitate to put it on anyway though. Luckily, that weirdness wasn't too apparent on my skin (maybe... unless up close? Is it the shea I'm objecting to?). Wow, the throw was amazing. My husband could smell me clear across the room, and yet, it didn't seem strong to me at all. As it dried it seemed to get creamier. I do think it has a slight suntan oil similarity. I really like it - unless I put my nose right to my skin. At that point it smells strangely artificial, like some concoction you might get at the tanning salon. Overall, very nice, very beachy and tropical feeling. I'm looking forward to wearing it again. eta: Maybe I'm having a problem with the shea?? Hmm....

I smell amber... and a lot of clove. The clove surprises me for some reason, just not what I was expecting. As it dries down the clove doesn't dominate quite as much, which is wonderful because now I can appreciate the amber - nice, warm, and spicy. I like this, but I think I like Bastet more for an amber scent. edited to add: I wore this one again today, and the clove isn't quite as loud this time. Now I'm getting general spice - clove, cinnamon, some others? - plus amber. It is very lovely. It is not cinnamon that is the dominant spice for me like it seems to be with so many other reviewers. Anyway, I'm really liking it. Yum... Sept. 2010 Update: I just wanted to update my previous post to say that I reach for this imp all.the.time! I think I may need to find a bottle. It is a very cozy and comforting scent for me. Spicy, amber-y goodness! It has definitely become one of my favorites. Love it.