Chrysantza

My favorite GC rose is Black Rose, hands down. The musk and amber give it ballast and richness. It's a dark, femme-fatale rose. I also really, really love Spellbound, which is also a rose/musk/amber combo, but in this case much more musk and amber than rose. Black Rose is more rosey. My favorite LE rose is The Peacock Queen. It's another velvety rich rose. It conjures up those deep red Mr. Lincoln roses for me. Now my all-time twu wub, All Saints 2005, has been described by many as strongly rosy. For me, it's very resiny and the rose plays second fiddle. If you like incensy roses, you might want to search out All Saint's (it's an LE) but YMMV on its rosiness.

Having now received a bottle of Gypsy Queen, I can now answer my own question. No, it's not really like All Saint's 2005. If any of the GC scents resemble Gypsy Queen, it would be Baghdad. Those who jones for Gypsy Queen would do well to try Baghdad. Meanwhile, All Saint's 2005 looks to be sui generis - the closest I can think of with GC's would be layering Hymn with a bit of Pele and Morocco.

I have found The Caterpillar to be very similar to Mitsouko by Guerlain. Euphrosyne smells a lot like Jontue. Pele is a softer version of Avon's Hawaiian White Ginger.

Spellbound is very femme-fatalish, to my nose. (Musk, amber and rose). It's very heady and seductive and just a bit dark.

The Caterpillar, which smells like incense, moss and florals, but all in the most delectable way.

Resurrected 2006 version This has become my favorite summer scent! It's such a soft, gentle, somewhat old-fashioned floral with vanilla undertones. I really pick up the violets and lily, and the amber and vanilla provide a really nice base for the flowers. I wish I had ordered more than one bottle! I love this scent, even though the name sometimes gets a laugh from people when I tell them what I am wearing.

Resurrected 2006 version I bought a bottle of this because it is a "florincense" like my beloved All Saints 2005. And crossed my fingers that the neroli wouldn't hate me. Gypsy Queen is another incensy floral, but it is MUCH softer, more carnation-y, less frankincensy and rosy than All Saints. I don't get heavy-lidded sensuality from this as much as a gentle yet sultry and exotic femininity. On me it is a spicy floral with undertones of incense, and the carnation dominates. The neroli behaves itself and is not too prominent or sharp. A real winner, and I wish I had more than one bottle.

I swapped for an imp of this, because I wanted to try one of the Scents Everyone Squees Over. Alas, while this is a lovely creamy vanilla in the imp, on me it smells like "fresh scent" deodorant and baby powder. Off to the swaps.

In the bottle: Sugary vanilla with rum undertones Wet, applied: This monster is a COOKIE monster! It smells like sugar cookies. Very sweet, needless to say. Drydown: The cookieness disappears but the rum stays, and the sandalwood joins in. This is now more like a musky "oriental" type scent than foody. Verdict: Yum.

In the bottle: Cinnamon spice. On me: Pumpkin pie spices with an added "kick" of something peppery. Very tingly and the musk holds it together nicely. Alas, though this smelled wonderful on me I got itchies and welts from wearing it! I might keep it for a scent locket or oil burner.

This is making me reeealllly eager for my Underpants to arrive, because Bastet is one of my favorites. As is Morocco, actually. Mmmm spices! I think I may have asked this question and not gotten an answer so I'll put it out there again if anyone knows - Is there a GC scent at all like All Saint's 2005? Rose Cross is nowhere near it, IME. How about Hymn? The closest I can think of is layering Hymn/Rose Cross/Euphrosyne to get all the resins AND rose AND gardenia...

I swapped for this one just to see what all the fuss was about. Now I know. I have to restrain myself from licking my wrists in public. Midway is very dessert-sweet with vanilla, caramel and brown sugar, but there's an undertone of salt and smoke and just a touch of butter. I normally don't go for foody scents but the way Midway is blended makes it luscious rather than cloying. I am kicking myself for not buying a bottle and plan to go track one down ASAP!

I have and love both scents. And what everyone else here said. Black Rose is R to the O S E. In fact, I would compare it to the LE Peacock Queen. The amber and musk in Black Rose are very much in the background and add a depth and richness to the rose. Spellbound is much more amber/musk. I would classify it as "sexy femme fatale perfume." Though the rose is still there, I don't get "floral!" right away like I do with Black Rose. And a word of warning: Spellbound can stain! Don't get it on light clothing.

... Orris root, white sage, rowan bark and red sandalwood, with myrrh, rosemary, lemon balm and honeysuckle. I got this as a frimp in a swap, and loved the description. Alas, lemony/herbal scents very rarely work on me. Polyhymnia smelled lovely in the bottle - crisp herbed citrus - but on me turned to Lemon Pledge. Phooey.

In the bottle: Very, VERY sweet and potent white floral On me: Strong white floral with a hint of green in the background. I can definitely detect jasmine and ylang ylang. I wore this to bed and had interesting dreams. Definitely worth a small hoard; I like its sweet white floral-tude and its potential use for dreamwork.

Whoa...this is WAY too perfumey and sharp on me. It smelled really nice in the imp, but on me the incense and warmth are superseded by an intense "store perfume" note. I can see where it would be really nice on some people but it just doesn't jell with my body chemistry. Plus it is fading fast. Sigh.

A carnivorous enchantress: diverse, lovely and graceful, emitting a sticky, glowing golden, sweet and terminally inviting scent. Its dew is believed to grant eternal beauty and longevity, and restore vitality and vigor to the magician. This sounded intriguing, but it wasn't as sweet on me as I had hoped. (I love over-the-top sweet heady florals.) It went on very sharp and dried down to hairspray. I might try this layered over The Lion or something else resiny and see if that cuts the ack!sharpness.

I swapped for this one, because I was intrigued to try something that is such a popular scent. Alas, it doesn't seem to work on me. The amber and vanilla are wonderful, but the honey smells like sweet plastic and takes over. Too bad.

Bastet is, indeed, Teh Scrumptious. It ages well, too. Now for a new question: How similar is Gypsy Queen to All Saint's 2005? I was told that All Saint's has a heavier rose while Gypsy Queen is softer. I ordered Gypsy Queen unsniffed when Carnaval Noir was re-released earlier this month, because the description had florals and incense, just like All Saint's (and the latter is the scent I would keep if I was told I could only keep one BPAL scent). I also know GC doesn't have gardenia and AS does.

Orgiastic mayhem in the extreme: sweet strawberry and orange blossom distorted by carnation, black poppy and hibiscus. Wet, this is HORRID BUG SPRAY that made me cough. Dry, it's sweet and lovely, a combination of fruit and orange blossoms. I'm keeping the imp because it smells so good once it gets past the bug-spray stage.

IME: The Lion is almost a pure amber, but light, with an undertone almost like new-mown hay. Bastet is "hotter," heavier and spicier with a definite almond note. The Lion is late spring or early fall, while Bastet is midsummer. (And I love them both soooo much.)

I got an imp of this mostly because I wanted a rose/frankincense ritual anointing or purification oil (rose and frankincense vibrate at a very high level). The fact that it smells lovely is a nice extra! In the bottle, it's pure rose of the rich, deep, red variety. On me it's very rosy with a touch of frankincense. Actually what I was hoping Parlement of Foules would be! The frankincense balances the rose and keeps it from going soapy, and doesn't amp up like the dread VoldeMyrrh. I think I'll get a bottle of this.

Thanks for the info! I don't expect an exact duplicate of Shalimar, just something similar for my friend who loves it. I'm aiming to put together a fairly diverse sampler (just in case she's changed her mind and now loves light florals!) but wanted to include one "Oriental" Shalimar type scent.

I ordered an imp of this from the Lab on a whim. In the imp: Violets. On me: Sweet vi-o-lets...I smell like a pastille. The thing is, I really love violets. I used to wear a violet oil from the old Body Shop (now Body Time) a lot. Le Serpent qui Danse reminds me of it. I love this and think I'll get a bottle.

I bought an imp lot and this came as part of it. Wet: Roses and evergreens. On me: Alas, evergreen and me do not get along and this was no exception. It smelled like a roses and Pine-Sol combo, heavy on the Pine-Sol. I swapped it away.