Blueelm

I wasn't sure if I should have posted this in the sandalwood thread or not. I'm a huge fan of Serge Lutens Santal Blanc. I've been wondering if there is a BPAL that has a similar quality since I like those notes so much. I think what I like is the non-powdery quality of the sandalwood in that scent. Normally sandalwood is very soft and powedery. Santal Blanc is almost more like cedar or agar. There is a citrusy quality and a lot of musk. I think the notes are: sandalwood, iris, cinnamon, fenugreek, Copahu balsam, jasmine, Siamese benzoin, pink pepper, musk. I'm not looking for a dupe. Just looking for suggestions of fragrances I would probably like based on that.

Thank goodness for imps because I would not have tried this otherwise. It is so pretty, it smells a little bit like L'Interdit to me and a little bit like White Shoulders and a little bit like candy. I get: Hyacynth, lilac, honeysuckle, and green stuff with some tiny bit of red-hot type cinnamon and a strange metalic undertone. I have ordered a bottle, even though I was a little disappointed to find almost no one listing rose since I thought I'd perhaps found a rose scent I liked... obviously because it was um... rather non-rosy.

Light green scent infused with citrus and pale aquatics. I thought that note was Yuzu, but I don't know, maybe mandarin or pear. Ah... pear. That has to be it. A touch of vanilla perhaps, and something slightly anise very very far away. This fades quickly on me though. I'll try it again and see how it lasts.

Wow, this is an old fashioned scent. It really does smell like a 150 year old recipe. After all it smells like the sort of scents most powders and what not were based on for decades. I got an imp of it in one of my orders and tried it out. Powdery floral, lotions and musks... hmmm. It has a jasmine/citrus thing going on as well. I like it a lot, but I let my mom try it and BOOM. Wow... it smelled great on her. On me it's much fresher and a little less directly sexy, more of a clean showery scent. I actually like it quite a lot, in fact this is about the best clean powder/musk scent I've tried. I think I'll have to order a bottle for each of us!

Oh Mommy! This is amazing stuff. If Black Moon is a night in the tropical forest, than Schwarzer Moon is a night in the arid caravans of desert nomads. This opens with warm sexy amber and quickly becomes dry with tobacco and patchouli. I don't normally wear patchouli well, but when combined with woody resins and so much musk... it works wonders. This is a very musky oriental with some real leafyness from patchouli and tobacco. Vagulely powdery from the musk, and with an incredibly faint sweetness, this is a great unisex scent too. I love wearing it, but I'd definitely like to slather this on a *certain* other. I'm swept away. I don't normally rank, but for the record this is a 10 of 10 for me. All hail the Black Moon Rising set, I'm damned glad I bought it!!!

In all this time I'd never gotten my stuff together enough to buy a lunacy blend. I'm so angry with myself I ordered the set of these and I'm amazed at the quality. Black Moon is a strong floral with what I took to be jasmine overtones. Jasmine, orchid, musky skin and exotic fruits. Strangely it reminded me a little bit of what I wanted Estee Lauder's Paradise to smell like. Like some tropical night on a swolen river, purple orchids and black fruits shining in the moonlinght. The scent reminds me a little of Rousseau's paintings of jungles. Strange and evocative, I just love how completely wearable this is. It is strong though, and jasmine takes front and center for a long while. I happen to like jasmine quite a lot, but those who don't may be blown away by it. After some time though this becomes musky and shimmering. What's crazy is that I might never have bought this except I was committed to buying the next one issued. I wanted Schwartzer Moon and decided it was worth it to buy both. Now I have a scent that is not what I would normally wear, but that I LOVE! Even better, it far surpasses even a lot of the lab blends in quality IMHO. I'm very very happy to have taken a risk on these two scents and am seriously intending to make a better effort to keep up with the lunacy blends. Okay... time to stop raving.

I bought this mainly because I love Pirinesi so much. Oh dear I love this fragrance though. Wood notes are my scent heaven. I still remember the first time I visited a redwood forest. The most vivid memory of it is the smell... the wonderful rich sweetish smell of the pulpy stringy wood everywhere around me. Wet: This has all the warmth that Silk Road has, but is much more adult and complex. I was expecting a drier and blacker scent, but I'm very glad to have the sweet spicy warmth of Frankincense. This smells almost foody at first, like some kind of Christmas potpourri. Over time the scent opens and becomes creamy. It's funny because I did not like either of the other red sandalwood scents I've tried. Some how this one more than works for me. Why juice though? This smells amlost like Apples are involved some where. Mmmmm.... cider. Midway: Sweet tobacco, and this becomes dusky. Sharper. Oh... there's that redwood and sandalwood. Good. I'm very very glad that the fruit is gone. It was nice, but it wasn't what I was really after. This... beautiful resinous wood scent... is really the holy grail of perfumes for me. I'm always after beautiful woods. All Dried Out: Oh how beautiful this lasts on me. Dry spicy and complex, it becomes darker and richer every moment. The frankincense has left me with a waxy cathedral scent. Polished wood and incense. I'm in love. This is like opening a beautiful wooden incense box eight hours of the day. I like this scent so much I actually found myself sniffing my wrists at work.

Okay. At first in the bottle this had the same strange scotch-tape scent that Snow White did to me. Odd, but not bad. I put some on and could barely smell anything. Then wham! Soapy white florals. Oh dear oh dear. This caused a sneezy sensation. And yet, it smells so good. I get so much Jamine, Lavender and Verbena out of this. It has a cool aquatic tint too. On my skin this warms up a little after a while and becomes really appealing. This scent has some lasting power! I don't get the honeysuckle or amber until I've worn this all day. This is fine with me as I think it's great when a fragrance lasts that long. I wish the soapy part was a little milder though. The scent reminds me a little of old French perfumes. It's a very classic sort of blend, like some thing that would have been around since the Twenties. That's just what it reminds me of, something a very urban Parisian woman might have worn... or maybe a little like Soire De Paris. I'm still in the middle of the road on this one. I like it okay. I've worn it several times... but I'm not sure if this is a keeper or not for me. One thing I'll say is that this one matured after sitting a while. Very strange.

Wow. I went to edit my review of this and realized I hadn't submitted one. Good thing, as this proved to be a sleeper scent for me. When I first tried it, I was distinctly unimpressed. It wasn't bad, just not that much of a standout. The scent is immiately spicy with carnation, and then quickly dries to a subtle musk and amber scent. Months later I tried this imp again and now I'm in love. It is a similar amber scent to that in Aglaea, but the plum is much more pleasant and subtle than the peach, IMO. I love love love carnation too so all in all this is a beautiful sensual perfume. My only complaint would be that it doesn't last that long. Drydown picks up some of the carnation spice. My goodness, what a classic and lovely scent. I'm now finding myself wanting to bathe in this!

Oh I thought I would like this one. But it smells of baby oil and worse yet... baby. I find this scent actually turns my stomach a little.

Vertiver. Vertiver. Vertiver. Woods like Cedar and Cypress... and Patchouli perhaps... but more than anything Vertiver. This almost smells like vertiver essential oil. I rather like the scent, but am not sure if this pure and direct of an approach would work for me.

The essence of faith, love and devotion: lilac, lemon, green tea, wisteria, osmanthus, white cedar, and Chinese musk. This is a very strange scent on me... a real changer. It was as if I was changing scents throughout the day. Wet: Bright, clean, musky floral. On my arm: Lilac blossoms and lemony florals. This smells fresh and clean, very pretty and wearable. About 10-20 min. later: This is a purely wood scent. No florals at all anymore, I smell cedar. I love wood scents so I'm happy about this. I just am surprised that this went from sweet florals to acrid cedar so quickly. Now I'm reminded almost of Anne Bonny. Hours later: Still Cedar, but it's soft now. This is now a woody green scent with... wait... skin musk undertones? At the end of the day: Now this smells like soft white musk and florals, maybe even a tiny bit of rose. The crazy thing is that this note is strong, as if I just applied a musk perfume. Cordelia is nothing if not unusual. I'm glad for the chance to try it but I may have to wear it a few more times before I know if I'd like to own it or not. Oddly enough, it sort of fits the changes in the character's life in the play.

This came as a frimp and I decided to give it a try. I didn't think that I would like it at all since I don't normally love gourmand scents and Grog did not work for me. Oh my goodness! This will be a future purchase if it lasts a whle. This is a rich coffee scent on me, like hazelnut coffee and chocolate biscotti, a whiff of pipe tobacco and a hint of distant perfume. This is only mildly sweet on my skin. I don't know how, but I seem to amplify the bitter coffee/ dark chocolate notes. On a tangent... I was at my mom's house wearing this and she walked by and exclaimed "Oh, you smell good!" I told her I was wearing Gluttony and she said it was aptly named. "You smell like the sould of chocolate"

Oh this smells like Spring to me. Like a still-cool damp spring night with a garden full of vines, herbs and slightly hoary branches. I would call this a soft herbal floral, but any rose is invisible on me. This is an incredibly tight blend, I don't get any single notes. At first: In the vial this smells too floral for me. Then, on my skin it opens up with a greenish scent (I think of tomato plants), and a soft aquatic floral. Later: Fresh, dusky, a gentle whiff of peonies. It has a bite though, a slightly nose-twitching peppery note that I think is effective since real black hellebore is poisonous and rather acrid smelling like milkweed. Drydown: The vaguest fresh scent on my skin. Fans of green florals and/or clean scents might like this. This is probably not going to be a favorite of mine, but overall Black Hellebore really is pretty and very wearable. A fitting tribute and a lovely clean scent. Too bad it doesn't last long.

Oh wow. This is the 2005 version and I am ever so pleased with it! This is the standout in the LE's I splurged on. In the bottle: Candy sweet and chocolaty. At first: Chocolate covered fruits, spice cakes, incense and tobacco. This is a sweet foody and decadent scent. After a while: Cherry Pipe Tobacco, Floral Boquet, Dust, Chocolate, and Sweet Fruit/wine. Later this becomes deeper, the chocolate stays dark but soft florals come into the sweetness, and the tobacco becomes quite prominent. This fragrance has depth and heat. Creamy, complex, wow... I think I have a top 10 contender here. Drydown: Soft creamy florals and a hint of smoke. This lasts well though. It reminds me a little of Samhain and Athens, but with Chocolate and pipe smoke, and on a warm spring night.

Mitsouko? This really smells like it without the powder. Odd. I almost didn't try my imp because it smelled too "manly". I think this was the blue-green aquatic note. Luckily for me this note fades almost on application. This has so many notes in common with Mitsouko it's strange. Cedary woods, moss and oak, combined with cold rainy notes and a hint of bulgarian rose some where down there. Very old fashioned, like something from the previous century, it's actually hardly what I would think of as a Bayou since I tend to think of shacks and crayfische. That being said, I loved wearing it and will wear it again.

Is there something wrong with me? Do I just not review something if I love it too much!? Athens and Medea are my BPAL holy grails of scent. Honey, raisins, bay, wine, and many spices. I will say that this is a very chemistry dependent blend. My mom loved this on me and tried some while I was visiting and it smelled sickly-sweet on her. She does great with classic powdery orientals and florals. On me this is a wonderful complex spice blend with a deep raisin/wine undercurrent. It stays fairly consistant through to the drydown which is a vague fruity-spice. I get more compliments while wearing this one than most anything I try BPAL or not. Well I see why I don't review my favorites enough. Appearantly I get incoherent when I'm in love. Well....

This smells to me like a fruitier Dragon's Milk. The almondy note replaced by berries and bubblegum. As it dries it picks up more of an incense note. I actually find this cloying at first but ultimately really wearable and pretty. However it doesn't last very long for some reason. I'm enjoying my imp, but I don't know if I'll buy a bottle of this. I already own Dragons Milk and plan to order Black Lotus soon.

Hmmm... I almost recognized this as it reminds me of something from my life though I can't think of what. Very different from the High John Root that I'm familiar with, but a good smell. Wisteria. I certainly get the scent of big wisteria blossoms, and grapes or melon. In fact the smell of the grape vine as well. This is a very uplifting clean fruity floral. I loved this from the first minute I put it on because it seemed so, well, purple. Also I felt happier, more confident while wearing it. Underneath the Grapey-Honeyed-Floral, there is a gentle herbal note that keeps this perfume interesting to the very drydown. Some what clean and close to the skin, this scent stays with me all day. I have to say this is one of my most worn BPAL scents. A long term favorite.

Oh this is pretty. If the geranium and rose were less present this would be a favorite. The violet note in this scent is so soft and sad. This is a beautiful traditional floral boquet with plenty of emphasis on violet and lilly. But I get the usual nose tingle from the rose, and the geranium cuts through most of the first two phases. The chamomile is really present on me, giving this a honeyed herbal quality that is really lovely Wow... I should look into more chamomile scents. After the drydown the scent becomes a lot more lovable, violet quieted by dried leaves. But the overwhelming floral notes at the beginning (my inability to tolerate rose and geranium) make this more of a near miss than a hit. Too bad because the drydown is pretty and oh so romantic.

Wow. This is not at all what I expected. I wanted opium! I've slathered myself with the imp several times and I amost like it. But not quite. If you had asked me, without a description, what notes were in this I would have guessed Lily, honeysuckle, and perhaps Jasmine. All very light, with a faint green note (perhaps the vertiver). I do happen to like white florals, so this is still a pleasant smell. This is a light green/white floral scent on me that has decent lasting power and is extremely unoffensive. I don't dislike it, but it's not what I thought it would be. It's not a standout to me though, and hardly seems anathematic. More... well... actually it smells like pure innocent spring breaking through the snow. Or perhaps dryer sheets. Strange the magic that individual chemistry can work.

Yay! I had been meaning to try this. And now I have some. Bottled: Wow. Patchouli. Wet on arm: Oh geez. This is hippy hippy hippy. I don't know if I could pull this off. The patchouli is making me self consious. As it starts to dry it goes through a sour phase, becoming sharply woody. Perhaps this is the Red Sandalwood. The sharp phase has an almost sour quality, like cumin. It softens quickly though into a gentle sandalwood blend, soft and oriental. Not so soft that you lose the quality of aged wood. Drydown: Rich dry woods, and churchy resin. This is all wooden, like opening one of those hand carved boxes full of Frankincense resin, or like Sandalwood hand fans. I don't know if this is a bad girl scent, but it's definitely an interesting one. Half hard and acrid, and half soft and pretty... half wood, half resin. 100% wearable though.

Never in my life would I have tried this, but since the imp was in front of me I decided to give it a whirl. Almost all I got was cinnamon, sweet candy-like cinnamon and maybe something creamy. Underneath the rose was dull, but it made my nose feel congested. I'm beginning to think I'm actualy allergic to rose or something. Actually this is a fairly brilliant blend. Despite the fact that this is a rose scent first and foremost, it's much more wearable, spicy and sweet. I don't know if this comes across as sexy on me, sweet spicy floral, but it isn't bad. I'll have to try again, but I don't imagine myself ordering this. It's a good scent, but not ideal for me. One caveat: lasting power is very very low on me. I guess that's good since the drydown would probably be all rose and I probably wouldn't like it at that point. Edited to add: I gave this a second try. I have to give this some kind of award for being THE mos wearable rose scent I have ever ever tried. The lab deserves a

Just tried this for the first time and found it surprisingly pleasant. In fact, I'm enjoying it quite a lot. I would never have tried it on my own, so thank goodness for the frimps. I hate rose scents. I don't mean to, but I feel like they hated me first and I'm just hurting myself by hanging on Anyway, Alice is some what different. Wet: This is very sweet. Honey sweet, with a hint of floral spice (carnation?). I love it! The rose is here too, but it's so mellow and delicate it doesn't offend. Perhaps like taking a bath in rosy bubbles. On my arm: Whoops! Baby powder. Lots and lots of baby powder. Nothing but baby powder. I don't mind this too much though, at least I feel clean. Drydown: Roses come out again, spiced and warmed with carnation and honey sweet. This is very subtle, but I feel it without directly being aware of the smell. The other notes make the rose more tolerable than usual. More than anything I would buy this scent for how it makes me feel. Bouyant and girlie, this is a great pick-me-up scent.

This is the '05 version I'm reviewing. It's great. In the bottle it smells like apple cider. I wasn't that impressed when I first opened the bottle, though I love the label. It wasn't until this was on my wrist that I realized what a good idea it was to buy this. It has the fruit of Hesperides or Athens, but with deep smokey spice alongside. And this lasts and lasts. I wore it to a very smokey club and could still smell it when I got home hours later. It's completely wearable too, it doesn't just scream spice or candy. There's a level of complexity that keeps things interesting. Drydown is surprisingly not foody. In fact this becomes woody and creamy with dry spice. Strange since it starts out with so much apple. This is not just a keeper for me, it's a star.