Floria

Ghost Revelry (damp mosses, fallen leaves, and soft woods swirled with an ethereal mist of white sandalwood, lilac, orris root, and moonflower) from the recent Lilith collection is a pretty, delicate non-foody floral. The Phoenix At Dawn (past LE - pink rose, apricot, orange blossom, carnation, red sandalwood, lemon blossom, rose musk, Madagascar vanilla, white wine grape, pink grapefruit, and white patchouli) is also a very pretty pink-and-yellow scent if you're okay with citrus. It has a bit of a creamsicle quality from the citruses and vanilla but I wouldn't call it foody.

Amsterdam (Tulips, peony, fresh flowing water and crisp green grasses) has a lot of stuff you like, and is definitely worth checking out if you don't have problems with stuff going soapy on you. Ameles Potamos is a nice sweet and salty aquatic. You might be interested in Apple V (Apple with white coconut, fig, and tiare) from the current Halloween collection as a sweet, tropical apple scent.

I found Dead Leaves, Bourbon Vanilla, and Myrrh had a good resinous sweetness to it after it had warmed up a bit. Fresh out of the decant the dead leaves note was kind of bitter and cologny, but this went away after it had been on my skin for a while.

The oil is mostly clear, with a thick light brown blob suspended in it, and needs a bit of shaking to achieve an even consistency. In the vial, this is a bit cologny and bitter - if it smells like leaves at all, they're wet tannic leaves, not dry crunchy earthy ones, and I don't get the myrrh or vanilla. Once applied, it starts sweetening up and becomes a lot more wearable, and the leaf note becomes more dry and autumnal. Despite the vanilla and myrrh (which can sometimes smell like cookies to me), this isn't really a foody scent, more a resinous one. It has a bit of a spicy quality without smelling like any particular spices - I don't know if that's the myrrh or the leaves - and is very well-blended overall.

Sybaris (sweet violet with tonka, clove, and incense) could be a good floral for you. It's a yummy candied violet made more interesting by the clove and incense. Since you liked the base of Spellbound, I suggest trying more blends with red musk. I find it one of the stronger and sweeter musks, and it's a pretty popular note.

Sweet but not in a candy way, a bit citrusy, with a bit of a haze of something lightly smoky, but not like campfire or barbeque smoke. Reminds me a bit of the top notes of Belle Epoque, probably because of the vanilla/citrus/opium combination. My mom, whose nose tends to pick up different aspects than mine does, said it smelled like "grown-up perfume."

For Paizocon this year I'm going to be doing Mythic Feiya. Feiya's a Chaotic Good witch from the Land of the Linnorm Kings (fantasy Scandinavia) who's a bit socially inept due to having been raised by hags for the latter part of her childhood.

I'm looking forward to trying Treasure Ship Coming In in hot weather.

I get mostly candy-sweet fruity floral out of this - presumably, the fruit blossoms. It's pleasant enough, and it lasts, but with that whole list of lovely notes, I'd been hoping for more complexity. I just hope that with a bit of aging or a slightly different hormonal state I'll get more of this scent's potential.

This is a summer scent, really. It has a similar vibe to Embalming Fluid, with the juicy, unsweet citrus and a bit of mouth-watering bitterness from the tea. If you like Embalming Fluid or Schrodinger's Cat, or the mint-lime combo in Goldenrod Crab Spider, try this. Because of the slight bitterness of the tea (and maybe some additional sharpness from the musk), the mandarin comes across as kind of grapefruit-like to my nose, rather than the satsuma-peel scent of the King Mandarin SN. It's very juicy and not particularly sweet. The mint is more obvious than the aloe in EF - it's a distinct note, rather than just adding to the combined vibe - but it came and went when I was testing it. The musk doesn't stand out much on its own to my nose. It's very refreshing.

I think it depends on what you want - is it the floral aspect that you're most interested in, with vanilla as a backdrop... or vanilla at the fore with subtle floral tones? And are you looking for sweet florals like Mouse's Long & Sad Tale, or... ? I was thinking of Liz for a nice neutral vanilla with subtle hints of floral but a nice smokey/leathery undertone - have you tried that one? I haven't tried Liz, but soft leather can be good on me.

My first thought was Lyonesse, but you probably have already tried that one. I have tried Lyonesse. I enjoyed the vanilla/lily aspect, but the moss and sandalwood base went very dry on me for some reason.

I'm looking for some recommendations for vanilla florals (florals with tonka or benzoin are also good). I'm okay with most flowers, although orange blossom/neroli and heavier roses can be troublesome sometimes.

Did you try Sin in the Pumpkin Patch with this year's Weenies? The pumpkin gave it an extra kick of richness that you might appreciate, since you like red musk scents. Or Spellbound, if you like rose. If vanilla orchid doesn't give you the problems regular vanilla does, maybe Rigorous Love for something lighter.

Have you tried Plunder (tea leaf, cassia, cinnamon bark, clove, allspice, sandalwood, tobacco, peppercorn, and nutmeg)?

Golden Priapus (vanilla and amber with juniper, rosewood and white pine) is a tasty vanilla amber with evergreens and woods.

Try Pink Moon 2012 if you can get your hands on some! It smells to me like Easter candy, strawberries, and spring flowers.

The Phoenix At Dawn Rum-Soaked French Tonka Sybaris Golden Priapus Hermia Runners-up: Eclipse, Schrodinger's Cat

If you like marzipan scents, Eclipse (A delicious blend of bitter almond, vanilla, frankincense and heliotrope, with a drop of cinnamon) might be worth trying. It's not a pure foody, but the bitter almond, vanilla, and heliotrope (technically a floral, but it has a nice soft cherry-almond quality) give it a nice gourmand edge.

If you like bright fizzy scents with fruity aspects, maybe Bon Vivant or Croquet? The Phoenix At Dawn would be good if you also do florals.

Aged rose notes tend to be better on me than fresh ones - more likely to be smooth, rather than shrill or sour. (Or maybe time's just improved my skin chemistry ) I've found the very light rose in Pink Snowballs and the rosewater in Mrs. Grose from the Turn of the Screw collection to be pretty well-behaved.

Jessica: Tombstone (A rugged, warm blend of vanilla, balsam and sassafras layered over Virginia cedar.) Unisex, with a bit of ruggedness from the wood and sweetness from the vanilla. Chloe: Maenad (sweet strawberry and orange blossom distorted by carnation, black poppy and hibiscus), Belle Vinu (Red sandalwood, vanilla, rosewood, osmanthus, and white peach.) Kindred: Golden Priapus (A truly carnal, energetic men’s blend: vanilla and amber with juniper, rosewood and white pine.) A different scent profile from Jess's, but shares the vanilla and evergreen. Tir: The Memory of Primal Secrets (Corrupt incense twinging through the huddled roofs of Kingsport on winter solstice night.) LE. Might be a bit too ominous for Tir, but the reviews mention aquatic and incense, which seems like it would fit his concept. Tierney: Maybe Ranger, although that might be too outdoorsy for a big city cop? Shax: Highwayman (Vetiver with gardenia, blood red rose, night-blooming jasmine, a dash of cinnamon and a faint hint of leather.)

Based on the reviews, Singing Moon 2012 has a little of this vibe, although focused more on swamp plants than bog water.

Have you tried Maiden? (white tea, carnation, and damask rose) The white tea leaf gives it a pretty dewy quality. (At least in the bottle. I amp rose, so I'm afraid on my skin it's more robust, but ymmv.)

Very sharp right out of the imp, with a cool mentholic blast that's almost piny, but that mellows down quickly. The remnants of the mint add a bit of chill at the back of the nose, but this isn't an extreme mint scent on the drydown. The citrus comes out, and it's a rather fruity citrus, if that makes sense. Maybe the vanilla cream plays up that aspect. There's a bit of a candy/lemondrop edge that reminds me a bit of lemon verbena. Very cheerful and refreshing.