Dusk

There's Mary Read (Salt air, ocean mist, aged patchouli, sarsaparilla, watered-down rum, leather-tinged musk, and a spray of gunpowder). Don't know how she identified, but she spent a good amount of time living as a man for various reasons (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Read). Bearded Lady isn't quite right but it's still about gender non-conforming I guess? ( Turkish rose, stargazer lily, violet, honeysuckle, amber, star jasmine and vanilla) Schrodinger's Cat also comes to mind (tangerine, sugared lime, pink grapefruit, oakmoss, lavender, zdravetz, and chocolate peppermint) I guess because of the neither one nor the other thing (or both at the same time? can't remember my theoretical physics ). That's all that comes to mind right now. Oh, and Jareth (Ethereal lilac fougere and gleaming leather with ti leaf, tonka absolute, white musk, and oudh). But that's really just because of David Bowie in general, haha.

Seance was such a pleasant surprise. I expected a dusty, old lady scent, and ended up with a damp, fresh and very realistic rose, essentially a single-note, until about an hour after application when some warm wood and nuttiness start to show. It's still not entirely my kind of scent, but it's very comforting and nostalgic. Almost like I sniffed this exact rose when I was a kid. To some people the rose might still automatically make it seem like an old lady scent, but it's not bad at all, not musty or perfumey. Just a beautiful rose. I really can't make any criticisms of this.

Jolly Roger definitely smells beachy, but it didn't have the crispness that you're talking about in Light Blue (at least, not on me). On me it started as a mildly sweet aquatic with a leather undertone, and it got increasingly salty and leathery with some dry woodiness as it dried down. So definitely beachy! Sand and saltwater and a bunch of driftwood. But maybe not what you're looking for. It also has a pretty masculine feel to it.

Based on reviews, this will rely heavily on your skin chemistry, but on me, Meliai ("Ash manna and ambrosial honey") was citrusy honey when wet and dried down to a beautiful, very predominately honey scent. With great sillage and lasting power, too. There's resin in there making the honey note more complex, but it's definitely minimal and a lot more clear-smelling than the resin in No. 93 Engine, which strikes me as more musty. It was discontinued (though fairly recently I think) and doesn't seem to have been very popular when it was around, so I'm not sure how easy it will be to find.

More great suggestions, thank you! A lot that I hadn't noticed before. I wasn't aware of Kit or Following Instructions and they look amazing. And I need to take a look at the Phoenixes and Visions of Autumn, I missed those updates completely. Morocco wasn't at all foody on me but I do remember liking it. I think it was very spicy sandalwood and dry carnation on me.

Thank you! Elbow, those are exactly what I was looking for. I'll also look into Urd, Skuld, and Diamond's Gong.

Thanks, Haltija! Shub-Niggurath is definitely on my to-try list. Dee is pretty nice but definitely in my comfort zone already. I didn't know about Gingerbread Cathedral and it sounds amazing, and Lysander also looks worth a try. Something in Kubla Khan went nauseatingly wrong on me, though, maybe the opium? :/

I'd forgotten about this scent until yesterday - I knew I'd liked it before, but I couldn't remember what it smelled like. Starts off very warm, resinous, honey sweetness. Dries down to be more complex, with the beeswax playing a large role, some frankincense, and the white sage giving it a drier and more masculine edge. It verges on being too sweet for me - I can actually smell the vanilla coke that the reviewer above mentions - and there's a metallic sharpness that appears in the later dry stages, which I do not like - but I do really like the beeswax. 3.5 of 5.

Just remembered the other day, when I dabbed on a tiny bit of Czernobog - it's powerful stuff. Seriously. Antikythera Mechanism is also very noticeable, especially the vanilla, until it dries fully.

Both The Scales of Deprivation and Old Scratch are lavender-based with wood notes. I found Scales of Deprivation to be more fresh and almost cologney and Old Scratch to be warmer, with more wood. They do have several other notes though. Old Scratch is mostly straightforward lavender/tonka/wood on my skin, though. eta: A quick look through the catalog and the simplest lavender and woods blends I saw, with no musk, were the LEs Quicksilver Phoenix (Cinnabar and silvery liquid droplets of mastic, white sandalwood, elemi, and lavender) and On Darkness (black poppy, lavender, thick black incense, black amber, rose geranium, Brazilian rosewood, and benzoin).

This might be an odd suggestion, but The Antikythera Mechanism, on me, has an oddly academic/bookish sort of feel. The vanilla is very dark and a bit musty, so it reminds me of the smell of old books (which release vanillin or a similar chemical, if I remember correctly?), and the woods are like solid old bookcases. And I don't know if it's a chemistry thing or what, but Czernobog ends up feeling like a cross between a metaphysical shop and a used-book store. Not precisely, in terms of actual smell, but it evokes the image for me. It's mostly musks, myrrh, and vetiver. I think there's a thread around here somewhere for blends that smell like books - might be worth searching for. eta: Here it is: http://www.bpal.org/topic/10368-old-books-books-paper-libraries/

Imp: Honey, pepper, tea, and lots of lemon freshness – bit of ginger? Sweet, overall. On: Strongly honeyed black tea, a good bit of lemon, and ginger. Something a bit like anise - or some other spice I can't place, but not much. Very creamy overall, from milk and vanilla, and warmer than I expected. Reminded a bit of sugar cookies. Or maybe vanilla scones - like the mini ones from Starbucks. 10 minutes: There’s a bit of tanin from the tea, and bite from the ginger, that stops this from being too feminine, but there is a lot of honey, cream, and vanilla. 30 minutes: Lemony, lots of honey over everything else. It’s like that’s all blended into one warm, creamy layer, and it’s over a fresh tea base. Maybe a slight linen note, but it’s hard to detect. Or I'm just getting "fresh" and having a hard time narrowing it down. 2-3 hours: Very gingery honey. Reminded of amber at this stage. I think the linen’s still hanging around, but it might be the tea. Still creamy sugar cookies/scones, too. Later: Ginger, lots of it. Some pepper, honey, and tea. And the ginger lasts over 12 hours on me... I think that means my skin likes it. Actually, even longer than that. I put this on at 5:30 yesterday evening, and 9:40 this evening, it’s still detectable. With cream and linen, maybe? Notes that I’m pretty unfamiliar with. It’s a cosy sort of blend, and I definitely think of tea parties when I wear it, so I suppose it conveys the inspiration well! I’m not one for foody blends, but this isn’t bad – not overwhelmingly sweet, even with the cookie association. I won’t wear it often – I’m not even sure what season or occasion it would work for - but if I feel like something fun and different from the rest of my stash, it will be nice. Summary: Lots of honey and ginger, dash of vanilla, over tea. Creamy, lemony, warm. Reminds me of sugar cookies and vanilla scones, but less sweet. Very playful. Rating: Hmm... 3.25/5 as a blend, but 2.75/5 for me.

I’m doing this review a bit differently, because my experiences with Fenris have varied pretty widely. The first time I tried it, I noted mostly an impression of patchouli over musk, rosewood, soft amber, and with a peppery note. It got incensey, with sharp sandalwood and spiciness, and the spiciness increased from 30 minutes to 2 hours, until it got almost too intense for me. Very sharp and growly. Then the amber, musk, and softer woods tamed it down. The second time (less than a month later, so aging doesn’t explain it), even though I still got the patchouli impression at first, it was warm, mildly woody, and even comforting, if intense. I didn’t get any pepper, I got sweet amber and gorgeous woods, with a finishing touch of gentle, fuzzy musk. The next couple times, it also veered to the side of sweet once dry. Once it got a bit powdery. Not sure what’s up with my chemistry, but there you go. Either way, it tends to go on a bit green, and warm up from there. I do like it, a lot. Very versatile scent. More for autumn and winter, I’d say, and more masculine than feminine. It’s a 4/5. And right now I'm chuckling because it looks like something similar happened to catalyst. I suppose the description did mention the "untamable power of chaos."

Imp: Strong myrrh, earthiness, and a musk with a sweet orange tinge. On: Very musky, a little less earthiness. Sweet. It’s also strong! This is one to dab, for sure. There’s still that orangey quality. It smells yummy, but not in a foody way. Rich and smooth. Something reminding me of a metaphysical shop – the myrrh, I’m guessing. 15 minutes: Musky and a tad incensey. Some spiciness coming out of it – not enough to add a “bite,” just enough to keep it interesting. Textural rather than syrupy smooth. 25 minutes: There’s an impression of mystery and lushness. It almost feels... hedonistic. I don’t know why. The musks are dark, but sweet. I’d say this is unisex, maybe a bit masculine, but it would be really sexy on the right woman. Unspeakably. Like.... 1 hour: Still quite pleasant, although I noted something remotely bitter at this stage – appears and disappears. Good throw. 2 hours: It starts to get a dusty quality about it, and lots of myrrh. Soft, dark musk. I smell a bit bookish, strangely enough! Must be the dustiness. Like books over a decade old, sweet smelling books with yellow pages. Slightly musty, but in a good way. It keeps getting dustier – the late drydown (several hours later) can be very powdery myrrh, with a clove-like quality. It doesn’t fade fast – goes strong for 5-6 hours, at least, might hang around for a full 12 if I let it. From the notes, I’d think this would be a very winter-oriented blend, but it actually works well in summer, too, despite being very rich and heavy. I wore it on a 95 degree day and it was still gorgeous. Really does highlight how important chemistry is – I get absolutely nothing green here, no eucalyptus, no cat pee, nothing intense or scary... it’s comforting, even. I completely agree with Balame, who called it “magical.” That’s exactly the word that jumped to mind! And sensual, warm... I suppose I should summarise it as “evocative,” since most blends don’t do this to me. Summary: Dark, mysterious, hedonistic. Sweet musks, strong presence of myrrh, and a bit of dustiness/mustiness later on that’s actually quite nice. Mostly very rich and smooth. Around 5 hours it’s mostly myrrh, and powdery. Rating: 4/5

I'm looking for recs for my mom, who adores sandalwood. Obviously there are a LOT of sandalwood blends around. One important factor: she has really sensitive skin, so even though she likes "spicy" scents, she's liable to have a reaction to stronger spices - Old Demons of the First Class gave her a pretty bad rash, even though she liked the smell. So blends with things like cinnamon and black pepper are out, at least. Also, she does not want to smell like food, although she might be okay with a little vanilla. Fruity notes make her think of jelly beans. She's liked Pteropus Leucopterus (White sandalwood, white sage, East Indian patchouli, muguet, Golden frankincense, and Balsam of Mecca) and the drydown of Pirate Moon (I think mostly red sandalwood, ebony, lingum vitae, warm leather, balsam, maybe a little red musk), and her signature scent is Omnia by Bulgari (ginger, mandarin orange, saffron, pepper and cardamom; nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, almond, masala chai and lotus; sandalwood, tonka bean, white chocolate, guaiac wood and woody notes - never sensed any chocolate from it though, and guessing the spices never give her a reaction because they're diluted enough). Thanks for any suggestions.

Imp: Lush, orangey. I’m smelling grapefruit rather than kumquat. First on: GRAPEFRUIT. Gorgeous, clean, pure grapefruit. 2 minutes: Sweeter, and more orange. Orange blossom takes charge pretty quickly. Some freshness from the white tea. Actually smells a bit like mango. 5 minutes: Very fruity and a little bright. More warm at this point than it is at any other. A very mild appearance of white pepper. Definitely a cheerful scent! 10 minutes: The kumquat has sharpened up a bit, and it’s not sharp, but it is bright. 20 minutes: Nice. It’s interesting, not at all a generic fruit blend. The pepper and tea add something to it and make it more manageable for a guy to wear – sometimes I have issues with blends like this, but this is reasonably unisex. There’s a slight honey sweetness that gives me pause, but it’s still very pleasant. 1 hour: Peppery orange blossom, with tea and that bit of honey, so it’s actually remotely like White Rabbit on my skin, at this stage, just fruitier. 2 hours: Light orange blossom and just a touch of fruitiness from the kumquat. Quite pleasant. It is very light, and after 4 hours it’s barely there. But this will be a good one for summer, as long as I slather. The only real issue is that at times it can be too sweet for me. Rating: 3.75/5

I should note that this is my first encounter with dragon’s blood, and I had no idea what it was going to be like. Apparently.... it needs to stay far away from me. Imp: Expecting something warm and spicy and devilish... and I get jasmine. Or lilac. White florals. A dash of cinnamon, maybe resin underneath, but overwhelmingly floral. First on: At least the jasmine gets spicier. It is warm now, with a good bit of cinnamon, some clove. Seems musky, even, and very sweet – cloyingly so. I don’t usually get colour associations from smells, but this is a deep, glowing orange. 5 minutes: Something patchouli-ish. Floral is calming down. It’s a bit sweet, but not as much as it was, and the spices balance it nicely. 10 minutes: For the first time in my life, I’m getting the jasmine -> port-a-potty association. The spiciness even substitutes for the chemical bite. Not pleasant. 15 minutes: It’s not too bad at this point... but the cinnamon is Red Hots, not the natural, woody cinnamon that I like. 25 minutes: Yes, yes, it is so bad. Now, though, it’s less port-a-potty than it is soap. So much soap! It’s at this point that I decide I'm going to go ahead and just SKIP all future dragon's blood blends, because that's the only thing that could be making such a mess of it. I don't mind the lurking clove or abundant cinnamon - can't find any pepper, honestly - but that smell, it must leave. Now. Not what I want to smell like. I decide to give it another hour or so to chill out, then I’m washing it off. 2 hours: Still smells exactly like soap. Not just “soapy” (although it is), but like a soap I must have used at some point, because that’s all I can smell. Fresh, soapy soap. Not at all wrathful. Unless it’s a wrathful.... baby bunny. It’s also powerful, and hasn’t faded a bit. And is hard to wash off. Summary: Spicy port-a-potty, then soap. My chemistry obviously loathes dragon’s blood. Rating: 0.5/5

... Old Demons of the First Class, Brimstone, and Sin? And I like the idea of the themed packs! It'd also be pretty easy to do a pirate theme... Anne Bonny, Calico Jack, Jolly Roger, Black Pearl, Blood Pearl, Mary Read?

In imp and first on: Very, very green. Mostly lime, with a touch of hibiscus and a bit of bitterness from the matcha that quickly mellows. 5 minutes: The floral goes WHOOSH and devours this scent whole. It gets very perfumey, a bit powdery at times. But it’s nice, even though it smells a bit like a mainstream perfume. There’s an undercurrent of very pleasant vanilla-like musk, smooth and sweet. 10 minutes: The lime rises to the top again, followed by the white musk, swimming in that perfumey hibiscus floral. It’s heavier than I’d expect, since it’s named after a god of wind, but that might be because floral perfumes often strike me as heavy, personally. 30 minutes: At this point it either gets a bit powdery, maybe from the matcha – strangely reminded of non-sweet lime pixie sticks – or, it gets less powdery, and the hibiscus blossoms into something a bit more fruity and lush. 1 to 3 hours – Regardless of which way it goes, it’s nice at this point. It does remind me of a fairly normal, feminine, floral perfume. Nice, with the tropical and musk qualities, but just… perfumey. 3.5 hours – Less overtly perfumey at this point. Mostly a mildly sweet musk, a bit of hibiscus, and a bit of mild limey-ness. Fairly impressive the citrus lasted so long, really. I do think this could be quite pretty on a woman, but I am not she. I like it enough, however, that I’m reluctant to part with the imp. Might hold onto it in case I ever decide to do drag. Or, until I can find an appropriate woman to give this to. That’s what I’m more likely to tell people. Summary: Like a very nice, commercial perfume. Lingering lime top note over lots of pretty hibiscus. Undercurrent of a soft, sweet, vanilla-like musk. Can go powdery, and floral is quite heady. Upbeat, springy, and feminine. Rating: 3.25/5 (but not for me)

Hmm... Kathmandu is fairly sweet on me, and warm but with dry elements to balance it. And it's incensey, since you mentioned you were interested in trying an incense blend. Scherezade is also incensey and warm, with sweet musk, but might be on the feminine side. Antikythera Mechanism, maybe, that had a ton of vanilla. I saw a few recommendations for Scales of Deprivation - honestly, that was ice cold on me. Old Scratch might be a warmer alternative, and it's got a good bit of sweetness from tonka and amber. It does have patchouli, but I didn't smell any. Coyote and Czernobog are very warm and sweet, but maybe too warm, if you amp that. I also second the recommendation to buy imps from the sales forum. I'm on a college student budget, as well, so that's the only way I've been able to afford as many imps as I've tried! And you can also do swaps if you're willing to part with enough of your stash.

I'm liking Tweedledee for summer. Really picky about my summer scents, though, because heat seems to magnify everything and perfumes can be smothering. I end up nauseated too often. Much though I love scents, if it's 90 or above I'm miserable anyway and am liable to avoid any scent, anywhere.

Fenris Wolf is very woody on me, and a bit sweet and warm early on. Fresh, it's a bit sharp once it dries, I think, but I hear it mellows nicely with age, and the amber and red musk do bode well for that. I don't find actual rosewood to be that sharp, but I don't know how it might go in a perfume oil - the only other rosewood blend I remember trying is Old Scratch, and it was very smooth there.

Any reason why I can't find White Peacock in the list of perfume titles when attempting to add a new perfume to my wishlist/inventory? I don't think I will be forgetting this gem, as it sounds right up my nostril alley, but it would be nice to add it, just in case.... Am I missing something obvious here? If you're using the "My Stash" feature to keep your wishlist organized, it's pretty out of date (since before the Yule update at least) and White Peacock is a very new Limited Edition so it won't be there unfortunately. Because of this, I keep my wishlist and inventory offline, just jotting down the name, notes, and any thoughts I have. Then I can google the blends when it comes time to make an order, if I want to take a peek at the reviews again. "bpal [blend title]" always has the forum's review thread appear first. (not with the quotation marks, when making the search)

In the imp, it’s sharp, strong lavender, and an herbal medicinal feel. First on, the medicinal stage goes away almost immediately – less than two minutes, I’d say. There’s hardly any lavender on my skin. At least, not until 4 or 5 hours after application. I can’t be more specific about its morphing, because I’m asleep for most of the time I’m wearing it. I have to base it on what I notice when I wake up in the middle of the night. Mostly it’s floral. Jasmine, lily of the valley, and rose, as far as I can tell. Lavender blends in and is barely noticeable behind them, but when it appears, it’s not bitter at all. It’s rare I can detect herbs once it’s dry, but before then, I’d say it might have thyme and/or sage. Most scents don’t evoke specific images for me, but this one did, maybe because I was half asleep the first time I wore it. A secluded garden with fragrant blooming flowers. Somewhat melancholic and magical. Very nice. My biggest issue with it is that it has a tendency to get old lady-ish, but that might just be my associations with florals. Once in a while it goes powdery after a few hours, which mostly just makes it smell like a really expensive soap. With lots of lavender, because that note sometimes gets stronger later on. Not a bad thing, really. As you might have noticed from my ability to comment on its state after several hours, it doesn’t keep me asleep, and it doesn’t quite knock me out – but even sleeping pills have a hard time doing that. I might get to sleep faster; it’s hard to tell. It does relax me quite a bit, so even if I’m not asleep, I’m quite comfortable and drifty. I also like that it’s evocative for me. Pleasant images will hopefully lead to fewer nightmares. Overall, a good blend. It will probably work well for people who haven't been hardcore insomniacs since infancy, and for me, it's effective enough at relaxing me that it's worthwhile to keep it around.

Imp: Artificial cherry or some other fruit, buttery undertone. Um. First on, it’s pretty buttery and not as fruity. Buttery crust and some sort of fruity booze. Very Yankee Candle where I spilled some on my fingers, like some sort of “autumn harvest” scent. Powerful and fairly unpleasant to my nose. 5 minutes: The suet note is really prominent on my wrist, with a bit of mince pie and a touch of plum emerging. The back of my hand has that buttery mince pie scent, but also a strong brandy-raisin component. Hmm. Not my thing. Artificial foody. 10 minutes: Not quite as pungent. The raisin is more realistic, and admittedly, I’m impressed by how much like buttery crust it smells. It stays the same for quite a while, flaky crust and some raisin on my wrist. Back of my hand is a holiday candle. 30 minutes: Much booziness on the back of my hand - brandy, definitely. There’s also a spot-on impersonation of the suet cakes my family used to hang outside for birds, which is intriguing, but I’m not altogether thrilled by it. And mince pie, yeah. Very accurate. Interesting raisiny-grapey presence on my wrist. 45 minutes: Comforting in an odd sort of way, definitely evocative of the holidays. On my wrist it’s mostly fruity with some flaky crust, and could actually work as a perfume, I think. On the back of my hand – not so sure. Definite plum. Definite buttery crust. Touch of raisin and brandy. Yep. Does what it says. 1 hour: Brandied plums, I think. The suet/butter note is much quieter now. It has a ton of throw though, a bit overwhelming. After another half hour it becomes the first BPAL scent I have to wash off – though it sticks determinedly to my skin. Not that it’s horrible, just very heavy and not at all my style. Summary: A fairly accurate representation of what it claims to be: plum pudding, mince pies, suet, brandied raisin. Some cloying and artificial, holiday candle sort of moments, but also some surprisingly realistic ones – like an impressive buttery crust note. Strange and very foody, very strong throw. Rating: 1/5 – not for me