Thaleia

Vechernyaya, the Evening Star, was very clean/spicy on me. If you want something more spicy than that, Ravenous is lovely.

In the vial: There's something honey-sweet about this one. I also detect a note of marzipan almond. Wet: First whiff called to mind that liquid soap that they put in the industrial dispensers. It's the bright translucent pink variety that they used to keep in the bathrooms at my elementary school, and I like how it smells, but wasn't expecting that from this at all. Drydown: I'm still getting the industrial soap smell. Dry: Oh no. Baby powder and industrial soap. I had such high hopes for this one, too. ETA, 1/23/06: Still honey-almond-sweet, inside-of-a-Lush-shop fragrant. Baby powder turned up for a bit but went away, so that's a nice improvement after a month. Warm and sexy, a bit sharper because of the ylang ylang (probably). May consider keeping this one, now. Rating: For how it turned out on me, 2.25. It's too bad, because I kind of liked the idea of the scent, if you know what I mean. 3.25.

In the vial: When I opened this, I thought immediately, "This smells like Lush something, what the hell?" I used to work there, so I know I ought to have picked up on what it was right away: Karma fragrance. It's the patchouli. And it's precisely that same red/orange colour the bubble bars are. Wet: Spicy orange. Very festive, especially for this time of year. Drydown: It's Karma, alright, only more sophisticated and grown-up. Dry: A tart, spiced, citrusy drink. Hot mulled cider with a cinnamon stick, made with spices and dried orange rind. Perfect for the season. The funny thing is, I'm usually not a patchouli girl, but in blends like this, I don't mind them so much. They add a bit of warmth and spice and aren't so overpowering. Rating: 4.25. I didn't look twice at it at first when I read the description, but the Lab frimped me and I'm glad they did. I think I'm going to need a 5ml when I've finished off my imp.

In the vial: A herbal/floral/fruity tea scent, sweetened. I would have said last night that it smelled like those old-fashioned candy buttons that come on the pieces of paper, but it smells different today. Wet: Ooh, candied fruit! It still smells a bit like that loose floral tea my mom used to buy when I was younger. Drydown: The amber lends warmth to the scent and makes it less candy-sweet than on initial application. It's also getting duskier from the sandalwood and myrrh, but retains the candy-sweet floral note on top. Dry: About the same as on the drydown. There's not much throw to this one on me; I can't smell it from arm's length, but it's pretty strong when I sniff my wrist. I'm still a relative newcomer to BPAL scents, so I haven't gotten around to looking into the Rappaccini's Garden selections for ones I'd like to try ... so this is why I'm so glad the Lab sends frimps. This particular one was nice to try, and I think I'll keep the imp for those really cold winter days (like the ones we're getting now) when you need a warm scent, a flavoured hot chocolate, and the Lord of the Rings Extended Edition with cast commentary. Rating: 3

I don't know what violet is supposed to smell like, but Marie Antoinette is deliciously evil, so her scent went on my wish list. But since the Lab so graciously frimped me, I can review this now. In the vial: Ah, tea rose. A light rose fragrance, pale pink/lavender in colour. (I'm not very good yet at determining colour scents, but I'm trying.) I'm so relieved - I've just gone through a slew of frimps that didn't like me, so I'm glad to find one that just might. Wet: An elegant and light, white-to-pale-pink rose, surrounded by opulence, as part of a flower arrangement in a ballroom with a parquet floor and gold-leaf and marble walls. Is the violet supposed to deepen/counter the rose, because I don't smell it. Then again, my skin tends to amplify rose scents over everything else, so it might be that as well. Drydown: I don't even know what I'm supposed to smell from the violet, but it's gotten less pure-rosey and more rosey-floral. It's so pretty and light. Elegant, without being rich and ostentatious. Understated elegant, I think, would be the best way to describe it. Dry: A white tea rose. And it's not about to lose its head, either. Rating: 4.5

In the vial: Woods, darkness, and licorice, oh my! By definition I don't really care much for licorice, having had a bad experience with black jelly beans when I was younger, but I'll give this a go anyway. There's also something weird going on behind my eyes when I sniff the vial. Wet: Almost immediately, the Fire of Love Headache came back. I tested/reviewed my frimp of Fire of Love earlier today, and I wasn't fond of that at all, and this smells very similar. It must be the civet, which I just found out is some sort of catlike creature ... how strange. I just did an in-the-vial comparison sniff test with Fire of Love and they DO in fact smell very similar to one another. Drydown: The anise is pretty much gone, and I just smell strong civet - or at least what I'd imagine it'd smell like. Bad kitty. Bad kitty. Dry: It's turning into Fire of Love, Take Two. Not for me, unfortunately. Rating: 1

In the vial: The yellow colour of the oil belies what a bayou should smell like. It's not 'yellow' by any means. This is a blue-green scent, floral and aquatic with depth given by woods. I can't place the actual notes, but it's definitely not a 'light' floral. It makes me feel like I'm by a swamp with vines hanging from the trees and crocodiles in the water. Wet: Heavy floral with aquatic notes that give this scent a 'humid' sort of weight. I am literally seeing blue-green as I smell this. Drydown: Less floral now, more aquatic, and not as heavy and humid. However, it is getting cloyingly sweet and strong that I'm sure if I wear this scent for a whole day, I'd end the day with a headache. Dry: The scent has become greener, but retains a hint of blue. I prefer my scents lighter than this, but for what it's supposed to be, it's not bad. ETA, 1/23/06: Tried it again after a month, and it's a bit better. Still sweet and humid, but clean and fresh because of the aquatics/ozone. Not as cloyingly sweet as the first time around, but still sweet. If I wash it off, it starts smelling okay. Rating: 2.75, because it might grow on me. I didn't like it initially, but I did like it a bit better on the drydown. 3.

Frimp from the Lab, and I'm always open to trying something new. In the vial: Spicy and foody, like cookies and tea. Cookie dough with tea brewing in the background. Wet: Bitter spiced almond? 'Spiced' I can understand, but almond? I'm still smelling cookies - almond cookies - and mmm, Earl Grey tea, which is undoubtedly the bergamot. It's a Middle Eastern tea party! Drydown: I'm getting more nutmeg now, warmed by amber and musk. It's still foody, but more citrus as the mandarin comes out and then ... cinnamon spiciness that's making my mouth water. It's really strong, too; I ought to put less of this on (and I didn't even put on that much) lest I get lightheaded as I am right now. Dry: Less cookies, more tea, but the cookie-dough scent is still lingering. And it's kind of beginning to smell like Play-Doh - spiced Play-Doh, if there is such a thing - but mostly just spiced almond cookie dough. I didn't get rose at all, which is funny because my skin loves the rose. I really don't know what to make of this scent. It smells good, but I don't know if I could actually wear it. I may have to try this again some other time and decide how I really feel, and will update as needed. For now, though, I give this a 2.5.

In the vial: Medicine-herbal, which reminds me of something from my early childhood ... it smells like Desitin, actually. Wet: Still medicine-herbal, but now with a lavender note. Also some incense, which I'm guessing is the nag champa. Drydown: I'm getting a bit of sandalwood now with the lavender, herbs, and incense. I don't smell tobacco, but that could be because I'm looking to smell something like cigarettes, and I don't. The lavender sweetens the sandalwood and herbs, but it still remains pretty masculine. Dry: Desitin again. Desitin and incense. I don't know about this. Wow, weird. I didn't think I'd smell that stuff again, especially not in one of Beth's creations. Rating: 2.25

I'm not normally fond of patchouli scents, but the Lab sent me a frimp of this, so I'll give it a shot. In the vial: Cold and then warm, if that makes sense - the coldness of the white musk countered by the spiciness of the patchouli, with a bit of a floral hint, which is probably the poppy. Wet: Ooh, spicy! Spicy and floral, but light, which is really nice. Drydown: Uh oh, am I getting a hint of soap? Okay, it's gone now. It's sweetening up to a light musky floral with just a hint of spice in the background. If the patchouli is in the background, I'm beginning to conclude, it's okay on me. Dry: A soft, musky floral blend that's feminine but says "Don't try, me, darling, I can still kick your ass." Rating: 3.75, because it's not something I'd have picked up on my own, but am glad I tried. I see a 5ml of this in my future.

This was a frimp from the Lab. I'm currently single (sadly) so I don't need to spice up any relationship except the one with my thesis, so ... In the vial: Hello, wood scent. That's really strong. Strong and woodsy and spicy, just the way I like my men. I mean ... *cough* I'm not sure if it's because I know this is part of the Voodoo Collection, but I seem to remember going into a voodoo shop in New Orleans when I was last down there (a long time ago now) and it smelt sort of like this. Wet: Hotel furniture. That hotel-furniture scent from the lower-end hotels, multiplied by twenty. I hate saying things like this, but ... it just isn't going over well on me. From a distance (and I mean, my arm is on the desk while I'm typing this), it sort of smells like a disinfectant/kitty litter (not that I've had a cat for twenty years, once it was revealed that I have a virulent cat allergy) combination. I just Googled 'civet' and it turns out it's some sort of cat. Am I totally off base here? It would explain the cat-litter scent I'm getting. Drydown: Oh, God. I wanted to be able to say that I love all of Beth's creations, and while I love the way she puts scents together, this one, unfortunately, is giving me a bit of a headache, not to mention my stomach's feeling a bit funny. Dry: I don't really want to smell my arm again, but I can smell it from here. Tobacco, woods, something spicy, bad kitty. I might just keep this until I have occasion to use it, because it might come in handy then, even though I'm not fond of the smell now, or let a friend try it, even though I really don't want to know what they'll use it for ... and I am most certainly NOT giving it to my parents. Rating: I'm not fond of this at all. I'd give it a 1 and hope that I'll find someone who'll appreciate it more.

Frimp me, Lab! Thank you. This was on my wish list. In the vial: Something sharp, like lavender and musk. It could've also been the 'voltaic charge of ozone' because it did wake me up. It reminds me of a womanly perfume I've smelt in the past, but I can't really place it right now. Wet: Powdery lavender and aquatic notes. It's a cool fragrance, very fresh, a light purple in colour. Drydown: I'm not the only one getting the soap, am I? But it's the good kind of soap, the fresh-scented kind that makes me smile. This soap is a wild-berry scented soap that's kind of neat, but then the berry fades away and I'm left with ... Dry: Soap. A fresh-from-the-shower smell. And ... it's gone. In ten minutes. Because of the soap factor, this is going further down on my wish list (I've got it set up in order of what I want to get first, not by BPAL's categories) but I'm not ruling it out entirely. This would go really well in lotion, I think. My mom, who enjoys light floral/fresh scents, might like this. It might even work better on her than it does on me. ETA, 12/19: I'm wearing it right now, by itself, without any other oils to distract me, and I really like this. It's aquatic, floral, and ... piney. I'm not sure it's meant to smell like that - maybe it's the lavender that's giving the scent the sharpness that I'm mistaking for evergreen - but whatever it is, it's a lovely scent, great for winter (or anytime, really). Nice and soft, very comforting. My mom's getting another imp, and I'm keeping this one, and it's moving back up to where it was on my wish list. ETA, 1/11/06: I'm ridiculously in love with this. I brought it on my trip to visit my extended family and I now need a 5ml. My imp is goooone. Rating: 3.25 4 4.5

This is high up on my wish list, so I'm so overjoyed that the Lab decided to frimp me. And, I love this poem. In the immortal words of Hugh Grant as Daniel Cleaver, "F*** me, I love Keats." In the vial: A pale floral scent, very sad, true to its name. I can pick out rose and wisteria (and knowing my skin, it'll amp up the rose, because that's what it does). Soft and airy-light without the depth of musk or sandalwood. Wet: The first thing I can smell is lavender. It's very faint (I'm probably going to have to slather this one), but I keep sniffing my wrist. Very soft, gentle, feminine floral. Drydown: The sharpness of lavender gives way to the sweetness of wisteria, and then at the end, a breath of rose. That's the trajectory the scent takes whenever I take a sniff. It's getting a bit heavier, with the musk and sandalwood notes coming out; it's truly a melancholy fragrance. Not to wear when you're having a bad day; I'd imagine you'd just end up crying. It's good for the days when you want to feel ultra-feminine. Dry: Wisteria and rose with a slight musk in the background. It smells like soap, but the expensive kind that's scented with florals. This is gorgeous. I'm going to need a 5ml of this when my imp is gone, and knowing me, it'll be gone soon. Rating: 4.5

I received this as a frimp from the Lab. I don't know that I'd have thought twice about this one, because I don't usually do heavier, woody scents (I'm a Katharina and Rose Red kind of girl) ... but it's the Lab, and we love the Lab, so I try everything at least once. In the vial: Sharp, dark green, very earthy. Like you're deep in the forest when a breeze blows through and kicks up the dry leaves on the ground and whirls them around. I can also kind of smell a hint of leather (not in the jacket variety, but shoes - old, worn shoes). Wet: Greener, almost lush greenery of the forest. Instead of smelling the scorched-earth scent of burnt grasses, I smell a faint aquatic note. Has to be the wet ozone. It reminds me of when I was in elementary school and we'd go on day trips to an orienteering range and they'd turn us loose in the woods with a compass and a rudimentary map, to see who can get to the "finish" first. Drydown: It's getting sharper and more woodsy. Dark woods, with very little light peeking through. I'm imagining a dense forest like Mirkwood. Dry: Herbal and green. The wood scent goes away and you can kind of see a ray of light peeking through the branches, but then it's gone again. I'd have to say that it's something I can imagine a guy wearing. My dad might like this. Rating: I give this a 3 for what it is, but I don't think I'd wear it.

I cheated and sniffed this immediately after taking it out of the shipping box, and in between testing out my frimps and writing reviews for my 5mls, I've been sniffing this bottle. It's unhealthy on some level, I'm sure, but I just love the way it smells already. In the bottle: I don't know how to describe it. Crack? No, seriously ... it's how a fresh rose should smell, pure and light with a greenish, aquatic layer, from sitting in water, or being in the snow. This is not an artificially grown flower, nor is it an old-lady rose that's been sitting in the shadows of an old house for however long. It's a flash of red in the middle of a field of white snow. Wet: I'm in heaven, already. It's like lying in a bed of fresh rose petals. I feel like I should be Mena Suvari's character in Kevin Spacey's fantasy in American Beauty. Drydown: It's greener now, the rose's leaves blending with the fragrance of the flower itself. Dry: I have no words. I just ... love this. The scent itself hasn't changed, but it's intensified so that there isn't just one rose, but several, surrounding me - or that someone just threw more fresh rose petals in the air. After reviewing Pride and All Saints, which were both rose scents on me, I can see that there are, in fact, different kinds of roses. Rose Red is a sweet and innocent rose with the energy of youth, while Pride was its haughty, evil stepsister and All Saints its warmer, incensey older cousin in a convent. My God. I'm in love. Rating: OMG 5. (N.B. This is my only bottle that's amber-coloured. Is there a significance to this? For now, I'll just chalk it up to the fact that Rose Red is v. special.)

In the bottle: Roses. I know there's so much more than that in this, but that's all I'm smelling. I opened up my bottle of Pride to do an in-the-bottle comparison sniff test. They smell very similar, and I know they shouldn't ... Wet: Still rose, but there's depth to this one. It's a darker, shadowed rose; solemn and sharp, like it's reminding you of your sins. There's a hint of church incense lingering in the background, but it's mainly roses in a venerable stone cathedral, the smell of the High Mass before it starts, replete with flowers on the altar and everything. Drydown: The scent becomes warmer as the frankincense shows itself a bit more. The myrrh deepens the rose and I smell something sharp - lily of the valley, or the cassia. I didn't get much gardenia this time, unlike Euphrosyne, where the gardenia overpowered pretty much everything else. Dry: It's still very much a pure rose scent, which I love. Not an innocent rose, but still the solemn, church rose I smelled before. The sharpness from the lily of the valley and/or cassia is gone and it's become a warm, incensey rose. I like this a lot. Rating: 4.25

Purchased for my upcoming visit to the Philippines. My family's Filipino, so I think it was so great that Beth had made this scent. I ordered it unsniffed and received it today. In the bottle: Mmm, bananas. My dad loves bananas, so we've always got some at home. It reminds me of that one corner of our kitchen where we keep our bananas. I'm getting hungry. (I also haven't eaten today, because my building is having a Christmas party, catered, so I'm planning on eating my fill.) Wet: Holy banana leaf, Batman! Not a banana fruit scent, but a plant-y, green banana scent. They have these huge bunches of tiny bananas, like the ones you see on the trees, whole, that you can buy in the Philippines, that I think I grew up on whenever I visited my family. I'm remembering those now. Drydown: The banana leaf is fading, and I'm getting a sharp, green woodsy scent from the palm and narra (similar in appearance to mahogany). There's a certain sweetness to it from the banana (now it's getting more fruity). The woodsy scent retreats and you get a floral/fruity tropical scent. For those of you who were wondering, sampaguita is the Philippines' national flower and a member of the jasmine family, but has a sharper scent to it. We've got some at home, and I can't go by our plant without smelling the flowers. They make sampaguita chains to put around the necks of their statues of the Infant Jesus/the Virgin Mary/etc. (it's a very religious country) so I associate the scent with churches and the statues my family members keep in their houses. It's beginning to come out a bit now, and gives a sharp floral edge to the sweet tropical-fruity banana. Dry: The sampaguita is coming to the fore, and the banana is backing off a little. Palm and narra are still present to give the scent some depth, but overall it's much lighter than when I first put it on. I give this a 4.5. It encapsulates the scent of the Philippines very well (not Metro Manila, as others have said, obviously; nobody wants to smell like gridlock traffic). I know it might be weird to bring a "Manila" scent to the Philippines, but I will anyway.

First of all, I love Katharina as a character. The girl's got spirit, and when she realises that life's not all about being bitchy, she becomes sweeter, but still maintains her independence and girl power. In the bottle: Sparkling peach, like a Bellini in a champagne flute. I know Beth used apricot, but it smells like peach to me, which is great. Wet: Peach and orange blossom combine to make a fruity/sweet scent, peach and small pale peach-coloured flowers touched by honey, deepened a bit by the white musk. It still sparkles, like a champagne cocktail would, when you first pour it into the glass. Drydown: The scent remains the same, but intensifies. I feel like I'm standing in a peach orchard with blossoms still on some of the trees. Sweet/floral but fruity, very light and the fruit isn't foody at all. It's sweet, like the scent of when you're biting into a ripe, juicy peach. Dry: The peach gives way to the sweet smell of the orange blossom. Not very much musk left. It's light and airy, and STILL sparkling. Throw: it's overpowering Euphrosyne on my other arm, but that could be because the Goddess of Mirth has dried down completely. I was surprised that Beth chose to portray Katharina with such a sparkling, pale scent. I would've thought that Katharina was something edgier, maybe rose (but that's because I'm partial to rose) that dries down into a sweeter floral that's captured perfectly in this scent. The drydown is perfect, because it shows the process whereby Katharina the 'shrew' is 'tamed' throughout the course of the play. Rating: 5. God, I LOVE this scent.

In the bottle: Sort of a creamy, neutral vanilla/floral scent, the type used to scent lotions labelled 'unscented'. Wet: A rush of gardenia/vanilla. It's a warm scent, but with some sharpness to it from the gardenia. I can't really smell the rose or jasmine, which is a shame, because I love those notes very much. Drydown: Still gardenia and vanilla. Now getting a sort of air-freshener, candle scent that I'd imagine a gardenia-scented candle would smell like. Not a bad thing, but I don't know if I feel like smelling like that. Dry: Oh, hallelujah, I was wondering when the rose would show up. My skin likes rose, so I was surprised it didn't show up earlier than it did. It balances things out nicely, less candle-y, more true floral, and softer. And then! The jasmine makes an appearance. It's now a gentle, but heady scent. Throw: I can definitely smell it without leaning up close to smell my arm. I'm surrounded by an aura of mirth. I just have to be careful that I don't come too close to sniff, because I still get that strong gardenia smell if/when I do. Euphrosyne didn't 'sparkle' on me initially like I'd have liked a scent named for the Goddess of Mirth to sparkle. It smelled like industrial soap (of the better kind, but still that kind of soap you get in bathrooms), but then when the rose and jasmine came out and balanced out the gardenia and vanilla, I got a soft, powdery, yet heady fragrance that smells like the inside of a Lush shop, which is positively yummy because I used to work there and would come home smelling like it and just loving it. I was thinking I might give this as a gift to one of my cousins when I go and visit them this New Year. I didn't know when I made that decision (before I opened the package) that it'd be similar to B Never's Two Hearts, which is what I've been looking for, but sadly it's not close enough. The gardenia overpowers the rose and jasmine notes I'm looking for, and I keep getting that candle/room spray scent. It might grow on me, and I might reorder in the future, but I think for now I'll give it to one of my cousins who'll just love it right away. ETA, 1/18/06: What a difference a month can make! It's aged very well, and the gardenia's not so overpowering now. The florals are blended well, with the added warmth of vanilla. I can pick out the different notes, now that I've got more experience, and it's lovely. I tried it as a room scent, and that's how it began to grow on me ... the drydown is amazing ... it dries down to a soft, warm vanilla floral. Yay. I'm glad I didn't give it away. Rating: 3.25 4

I liked the description so much that I had to take my forum username from it. In the bottle: A heady rose with a sharpness underneath that is the narcissus. Very haughty, like a beautiful rose who knows it's beautiful, looking down at everyone else. Wet: My skin loves rose, so the narcissus takes a back seat almost immediately. Drydown: The narcissus comes back, giving the rose an edge to it ... like a lovely red rose with petal edges so sharp you could cut yourself on them. Dry: The rose and narcissus are fairly equal now, fighting with one another about who's better than the other. Throw: Pretty good. I've got The Haunted Palace on my other wrist, and all I can smell is Pride. This was the scent I was most excited to receive, and while I was a bit apprehensive when I read the mixed reviews it's gotten, I'm so gratified to say that I love it. This is a no-nonsense rose, one that won't hesitate to stick you with a thorn if you come too close. It's a deep red fragrance, elegant, something to wear to a party if you want to stand out and feel like you could sit back, people-watch, and crack on everyone else who walks by. Not to say that you should do that, but it does give me that Mr. Darcy impression. It's the embodiment of the particular Deadly Sin I think I'm most guilty of ... which I probably shouldn't admit in public. Rating: 5. Just because I think it's fantastic and I think I'm in love. ETA: Staying power is great. I just tried to wash it off so I could try the rest of my haul, and it's still there. In full force. I'm impressed. ETA, one year later: I wore this to a family showdown a couple of weeks after the initial review was written, and believe me, it DOES work wonders. It definitely sent the appropriate message to certain members of my family.

In the bottle: Really sweet floral. It smells like candyfloss, or similar. I was actually expecting a scent reminiscent of a Golden Age - heavier, opulent - but I can see how this scent embodies the lightheartedness that a Golden Age should have. Wet: A citrusy floral. I can smell the orange floating above the florals, and yet it's got sort of a gravitas to it, like something's already weighing the lighthearted scent down, a portent of ruin. Drydown: The rose is coming out more and battles with the orange, so it's now a red-orange colour on me, the colour of those yellow roses with the red tips. It turns out that my skin seems to love roses and magnifies them above all else. Dry: The sweetness returns. I'm smelling peach, why is that? - kind of like a creamy orange-peach sherbet with vanilla ice cream swirl. It's now a fruity sort of floral, not so much citrusy as with the initial application, like a huge bowl of fruit on an elaborate banquet table with flower accents here and there. Throw: not very much, as far as I can see - I'm holding my arm out in front of me and I can barely smell it. It's a come-up-close fragrance. Almost fitting for a Golden Age scent: it's elusive, but lovely when you do smell it. Rating: 4. I do like this a lot, and I'm sorry to have to see it go in a few weeks. I might need to get another bottle (or two, if my relatives (whom I am visiting in a couple of weeks) decide they want it and take it) before it goes. ETA: I just wore this to a holiday party and received a lot of compliments. Rock on.

I just got my order, and I guess I'll be reviewing this one first because I accidentally got some on me while I was trying to close the imp after smelling it. Origin: Frimp from the lab - thank you! In the vial: it's like sticking my nose into a huge floral bouquet, like the ones my mom keeps all over the house. (I also have to learn how not to spill whenever I open the imp.) Wet: it reminds me of that smell when you first walk into a Crabtree & Evelyn, rose and a mixture of florals underneath. Drydown: the rose is magnified over everything else, kind of like a featured soloist with an orchestra backup. Since this is the first BPAL scent I've tried, I've come to the conclusion that my skin likes rose. Dry: not a pure rose, like Rose Red; it's a bit more citrusy now (must be the mandarin) and deeper than a pure floral (must be the woods and myrrh, but I can't smell them very much). I'm still new at picking out notes, so all I can say right now is that it's lovely. Rating: 4; I think I will be getting a 5ml of this in my next-next order.

I work seasonal at Lush, but I'm a total BPAL newbie. So, I wanted to ask your advice. I'm not sure if this has been asked before, but ... what do you guys recommend for something similar to B Never's Two Hearts?