Floria

Rose is kind of unreliable for me, and unfortunately, the rose in this does not like me. Something (possibly the rose/musk/pom combo) just turns to cough syrup. Aging sometimes smooths out rose blends for me (it worked with Pink Snowballs and Spellbound), so I think the best thing in this case might be to set it aside for a few months to mellow.

Sadly, the GC doesn't have a lot of creamy scents. Obatala and Dana O'Shee might come the closest. Neither are very dark, but they might be good for layering. Les Bijoux? She is a jewel thief.

This isn't a terribly strong scent on me, but then, my skin eats chocolate notes and I have a slight stuffy nose at the moment, so ymmv. I see where the lemon jaffa cake comparison comes from. The two standout notes, to my nose, are the cocoa and the lemon blossom. Everything else is pretty well-blended and unobtrusive. I often amp rose, but the white rose here is pretty subtle and doesn't go shrill or try to take over the whole blend. I also have mixed luck with light musks, and I can report that the skin musk in this is fairly low-pitched and doesn't go sharp or cologny. This all may sound like damning with faint praise, but this is a genuinely enjoyable scent, and one I'm looking forward to trying again when my nose is fully functional. ETA: It takes a while, but the vanilla is fairly strong once it finally comes out.

I have a slight stuffy nose and my skin's been dry lately, which may be throwing things off, but here goes... This is a very soft scent, both subtle and kind of fuzzy. To be honest, I'd prefer a little more oomph from the orris and ambergris, since at its current balance it smells a lot like Possets' 301 to my nose, and I already have an imp of that. I think I may be amping the musk - it's a nice enough musk, but I was more interested in the other ingredients. I'm not sorry I bought a decant - it doesn't smell *bad*, and I really liked the idea of having a Sappho scent - but I hope that aging shifts the balance of the scent a bit.

Twilight from the Ars Moriendi section has lavender, jasmine, and honeysuckle, and I think I get lavender and honeysuckle out of Somnus as well, though the notes aren't listed. If you want a sweet lavender without a strong floral element, there's TKO.

Maybe layer Schrodinger's Cat (for the herby-citrus) with something spicy and ambery like Sin or The Lion?

When I first got into BPAL, I tended to pick up on the powdery aspects of a lot of notes, including red musk, amber, and some resins. Then something changed in my nose or skin and amber started to really work for me (but orange blossom and rose became less reliable - go figure.)

Yep, this is mandarin. Very true to the real fruit, and not much of a morpher.

Off the top of my head Hellcat (A soft, sensual, luxuriant blend with a wicked bite: hazelnut, buttercream, honey mead, rum and sweet almond, sounds foodier than it actually smells) springs to mind, as well as Kabuki (Compelling, complex, and utterly enigmatic: a luxuriant, exotic blend of cherry, red musk, and star anise, comes off as cherries and incense) and Hollywood Babylon (The essence of innocence shattered: glittering Egyptian amber and heliotrope, infused with the sweetness of strawberry and vanilla - dragged into debauch by lusty red musk and a dribble of black cherry, so freaking amazing, I'm wearing it now!) Those are just three that immediately spring to mind. If you can tell I really like the smell of almonds and cherries, so if you don't they might not pique your interest. Sounds like I'll have to try out some Hollywood Babylon. I love amber and heliotrope!

Maybe Aureus for the woody blend, or possibly Umbra (patchouli, cedarwood, vetiver, cinnamon) if you can do vetiver and want something more earthy. The Apothecary (tea leaf with three mosses, green grass, a medley of herbal notes, and a drop of ginger and fig) might work for a green scent if you don't amp the fig.

Can someone recommend scents that have a gourmand aspect but aren't pure foodie? Scents with edible-smelling elements tend to work well on me, but I'm not interested in smelling exactly like cake, and I prefer candy scents to contain something to cut the sweetness a little.

I've been into perfume oils for about two years now, and I haven't used up a single 5 ml yet. I have a big collection and I don't usually wear the same thing more than once or twice a week. Some aromatic oils and resins do have natural preservative properties (think Ancient Egyptian embalming unguent), so it'd make sense that perfume would keep well. I personally worry more about whether my light top-heavy citrusy blends are going to age into something I don't like as much before I've made a decent dent in the bottles than I do about anything in my stash spoiling or going rancid.

Sybaris (violet, sweet clove, incense, and tonka) is a good GC candied-violet scent, with some additional complexity from the incense and clove.

In a fairly fresh imp, this is strong mandarin over a well-blended, slightly sweet base chord. This is a citrusy-cologne mandarin, not creamsicle mandarin. I like citrus, but I actually like this better after the initial mandarin blast has died down just a little so the notes underneath stand out more. I'm looking forward to seeing how this ages. I'd characterize this as a unisex scent, leaning a bit toward masculine. It's a little cologny for me, but I do appreciate a blend containing red musk that doesn't turn into the Red Musk Show.

If you like myrrh, and sweet resins in general, maybe you'd want to try Chimera (cinnamon, myrrh, honeysuckle, and copal). If it isn't complex or incensy enough for you (despite the ingredients, it reminds me of European cookies), you might try it for layering.

In the decant, this is slightly bitter, in the way that some floral notes are on me before they've had time to mellow and warm up. After a few minutes on my skin, it's very nice, but practically a peony single-note. I'm not a fan of very buttery scents, but a little complexity would have made it more interesting. I'll be using the decant, but since I already own a big bottle of Lady in a Speckled Pink Kimono and imps of Shoggoth and The Dormouse, I don't think I'll need a big bottle of this.

I should probably preface this by saying that my skin tends to eat chocolate. In the imp: reminds me of Glee by Possets, but not as sweet. On skin: takes some time to settle down, which may be because I've been going outdoors a lot today and the skin on my wrists is cold. Eventually develops into a fuzzy, slightly powdery spiced amber. Not gingerbread-spicy or curry-spicy, but the cocoa registers more as some exotic spice than like brownie batter.

This was a bit of a gamble, but I'm glad I got the decant. In the vial: ROSE! Which was a bit disappointing, but not unexpected. On my skin: predominately rose, but not amping unpleasantly. Slightly dusty foody spices underneath. I can't detect the tea as a separate note, but my skin tends to devour tea notes anyway. I really like this, and I hope to see more of BPAL's rosewater note in the future.

I get a very sweet blend of fruit punch and violet candies with a slight undertone of something nutty. It's a fun, frivolous, brightly-colored sort of scent, but a bit more candy-like than my usual taste in tropical fruit scents. It doesn't last very long.

Chimera, oddly enough. It's a slushy day and I wanted something cozy, and Chimera always reminds me of Northern European baking. I also put a bit of Snow White on my hair yesterday, and the stuff sticks around for ever.

Rakshasa (sandalwood with rose and patchouli) might work for you, and maybe Cathedral (woody-resiny church incense) for your roommate.

Candy-like strawberry, supported by fruity and spicy florals and an undertone of foody sweetness. Very girlish and springy. It has a bit of the fruit salad quality I get from Shoggoth, but with a pronounced strawberry edge, and cuter because of the candy elements.

Maybe Morocco? (Arabian spices wind through a blend of warm musk, carnation, red sandalwood and cassia.) Snuggly but with a touch of foreign climes.

I get something sparkly from Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat - maybe it's the lime + champagne grape? Some people (self included) get a bit of a cola or Dr. Pepper vibe from fresh Voodoo.

I haven't had a chance to try it, but "A Wonderful Light" from last year's Yules sounds nice and glowy and uplifting: Three radiant ambers with honey, linden blossom, bourbon vanilla, and orange zest. No. 93 Engine is a nice, bright, resinous scent. It's less snuggly and more zippy than the amber-based blends, to my nose.