catalyst

I'm not sure on this one. It starts off as dirt. Not dry dusty dirt, but more like if you're playing in the mulch under an oak tree. That dark, rich soil kind of thing that's a few inches above where the earthworms live. After a time, something else starts to come up. I couldn't figure it out for a long time, but I'm pretty sure it's amber. Some people describe that as powdery or vanilla, so that's probably all this is. Earth and amber. Might be a touch of sandalwood, but I'm not sure. I think I just want there to be sandalwood in everything. Liked it, didn't love it, and I'm not sure if I'm keeping the imp or not yet, but I can see why people would love it.

I'm just getting a citrus or lemon verbena from this. It was more complex wet, but now after about five minutes, it's a quickly fading lemon verbena with maybe a little tea and something else, like maybe the oakmoss? This is why it's always good to try imps twice if you can before deciding, because I remembered this very differently when I tried it a month ago. To the swaps.

I pretty much just get mint and aquatic from this. The mint starts off strong, a little overpowering. Someone else in the house started looking around and said "Did someone spill laundry soap?" After about five or ten, the mint died down and it was more of a bright aquatic. Nice, but still a bit minty for me. Not bad, but not a keeper. After about a half hour, it's mellowed into something like a woody aquatic which I like a lot, maybe with a hint of salt, it's hard to tell. Sadly, it's disappeared completely now. I liked that last part, but it's not worth a half hour wait for an hour of something nice. There are plenty of other fish in the sea. (Hey, a pun or something.)

Can't have Vodou without Elegba, he who opens the way.

I realize this is supposed to be a scent that you wear for the magic purpose behind it and not for the what it smells like, but good god, no! In the vial and on my arm, I kid you not, it literally smelled like a combination of feces and modeling clay. It was one of the top three most disgusting-smelling imps I've gotten yet.

I just found out today by accident that these are all pretty similar: Herbert West - "Aftershave, embalming fluid, and splatterings from a panoply of reanimation reagents." Rocking-Horse-Fly - "Shellacked wood, sap, sawdust, and privet." Embalming Fluid - "White musk, green tea, aloe and lemon." Sea of Glass - "A scent of inimitable purity, crystalline grace, and limitless light." I tried on Herbert West, and in my review mentioned how I was scared off by the description. What I didn't realize is that it literally meant Embalming Fluid as part of the notes on it. Embalming Fluid is the only one of these I haven't personally tried, but the Herbert West reviews say that it's almost the same as Embalming Fluid but with a bit of aftershave added. I do get a little musk in it too. Rocking-Horse-Fly is very similar, but more green and almost sharp. Sea of Glass definitely has a floral in it that makes it too feminine for me, and it's more aquatic than the others, but still very similar.

Interestingly, the scent I tried earlier in the day was Herbert West, which is almost exactly like Embalming Fluid apparently, and Rocking-Horse-Fly is almost exactly like Herbert West, both of which are very similar to Sea of Glass but without the florals. This one is different from the others in that it's almost a little sharp. I'd have to say the sap and privet are the top notes, I didn't really get much of the shellac or sawdust at all. I think some kind of wood note shows up at the very end and lasts the longest, maybe it's the sap. It's very fresh and green. Keeper for me. I'll have to decide if I'd rather get a bottle of this or Herbert West, because they're too similar to justify getting one of each. Tough choice. Herbert West is a little woodier, this one is more green.

I just got an imp of this, and when I read the description, I was scared off, to be honest. Who the hell wants to smell like a mortuary? I'm not familiar with the catalog Embalming Fluid at all, so it wasn't until I read the descriptions here that I "got it." Clever. Opened the imp and hey, it's not horrible. In fact, it's fresh and nice. So I took a chance and swiped some one. Hey. This is really nice. It's almost on the edge of too feminine for me, but... on the edge. I think my chemistry saves it. I'm getting much more of an aquatic citrus that's really similar to Sea of Glass. I don't get a lot of aftershave in this, but maybe I'm not noticing it? That, or I've been getting cheap aftershave. The harsh alcohol of it isn't in here. You know, I think this is a keeper. This is one where the description really does the scent a huge disservice. I never would have picked it out on my own if I hadn't gotten a frimp.

I liked this one, but it wasn't spectacular. It's mostly boot leather, but more like suede leather. I have no idea why, or how they do it, but this leather is like those tall suede boots like you see at ren faires, whereas the leather in The White Rider is refined, like fine kid gloves, and the leather in Fighter is like that cowhide that's smooth on one side and rough on the other. I'm starting to think that leather is something of a chameleon that takes on the traits of whatever it's paired up with. Anyway, this leather is picking up the very tiniest amounts of the other scents that are with it, but after about fifteen minutes it's almost entirely suede boots. Which is a good thing. Not a total "Holy crap I must own this," but nice.

If you ever find bottles of The Little Sparrow or Le Pere Fouettard, I'll split them with you. Also, check out Tzadikim Nistarim too.

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Discontinued? Dammit! Why do I keep completely loving LEs and discontinued ones? *sigh* Well anyway... I love this. It's exactly the simple unisex kind of thing I get along well with. Sandalwood, amber and some kind of dry something that's "seeds and sedges," and that's it. There's nothing not to love. As always, the brighter notes fade into something more mellow, which is the sandalwood and amber, which means it's a long lasting scent that doesn't change much over time once it's stabilized itself. ...And it's discontinued. *headdesk*

Vanillabean recommending vanilla is funny somehow. The problem is, I can't do vanilla. The only time it's ever worked at all on me was in Snake Oil, otherwise it's just... blech. Sickly sweet. It ruined the otherwise perfect Antikthera Mechanism for me.

Ah, missed this the first time, sorry about that. I'm worried about the shellac, but I'll give it a shot. And I love your sig quote. Meanwhile, I think Cathedral is a winner, kids.

Oh my god. I love this. I don't care what the description says, this is cedar, sandalwood, frankincense, myrrh, and a touch of something else in there that's kind of smooth and polished. Maybe a hint of beeswax? Might be a whiff of sweet church incense. I don't know what. I don't care what. This is freaking awesome and has just zipped up into my top ten of all time. It starts off sharper, of course, and more complex, but ends as about 2/3 cedar and 1/3 resins, which seems to last for several hours on me. It's the bright, clean wood I was looking for.

Aha. I see how it is. *amused* Well, if anybody is willing to have mercy on us monitarily disadvantaged people and decant a few drops just to try it out, I'm sure something could be arranged to pay that person back... Intrigue is on my wish list, and I added Captain Cully to it last night. Yggdrasil punched me in the face, it was super strong. The main hope for the thread was to find something that was just woods only, like De Sade is pretty much leather only, without any flowers, fruits or herbs. I can't believe that's so hard to find.

Wow, I take off for a few hours and I get a jillion suggestions. You guys are awesome. I have tried some of the ones suggested. I know there are a lot with wood notes, I was hoping for something that was just woods only. Magus and Lear are awesome, by the way, they're up in my top ten. Thanks for solving the Aureus mystery, I was wondering what the heck was in there. I don't understand how they figure patchouli is "True, perfect golden light." Coyote was a heartbreaker, it was extremely uninteresting. I have an imp of Cathedral but haven't tried it yet. Sounds like that's my next test! Western Diamondback is on my wish list, I hope I can find some. Checking on the rest. Thank you so much, everyone. Keep the suggestions coming...

I'm looking for blends that are primarily woods, along the lines of The Antikdkfghelkda Mechanism but without the vanilla. It would have been perfect if not for the foodie sweetness of the vanilla. Toad Hall is awesome, and I've bought some, but it's heavy on the aquatics. Aelopile is buried in citrus. Dee has too much of something sharp and cologney (rosewood? I don't know). Dragon's Bone is getting close, but not quite a pure mix of woods with the dragon's blood in it. Strangler Fig is pretty good, but there's something in there that doesn't agree with me and it's too much of a dry herbal. Tombstone's okay, but has that vanilla and sassafras. Violens is about the closest to what I want: "Five sandalwoods, dusty leather, and light musk." What's just a nice mellow, or even sweet, wood blend? Like maybe sandalwood, cedar, blondewood, teakwood, polished oak... nothing sharp and cologney, no harsh pine or something like that. I've heard rosewood is sharp, I don't know, I haven't smelled it by itself. Suggestions?

My female friend says to tell you guys that BPAL Sea of Glass smells almost exactly like Avon's Sunny Sky, but a little cleaner and a little less fruity.

It's nice, and I don't get citrus at all, but it's too floral for me. I think there's gardenia in it, maybe? My female friend says it's almost exactly like Avon's "Sunny Skies" but slightly less fruity. I was hoping for something more clean, like linen, maybe slightly more aquatic, and didn't expect it to be so flowery. It's really beautiful for a woman, though. My friend loves it and is going to buy some probably.

I like this one. Like, not completely love, but it's good and a keeper. Unsure about getting a whole bottle, I think I'll try it a couple more times before deciding. Wet, it's a clean and warm blend of resin incense (like frankincense and myrrh type incense, maybe a tiny bit of rose or nag champa or something sweeter), a little beeswax, and something that must be the parchment or a light wood of some kind. As it dries and fades, the incense comes up more, which is the main reason I'm unsure about getting a bottle. Several hours later the only thing left is a tiny bit of what I think is the frankincense and a little beeswax. Good, not great. I liked it, though.

Teakwood, oak, black vanilla, and tobacco. "Wow, I really like this, except for there's something... what is that..." "I still like it, but that sweetness just won't go away. What's that annoying sweetness?" "Now it's mostly that sweet note. It would be perfect otherwise. What..." "Oh. Vanilla." ... Dammit.

This absolutely broke my damn heart. I've been wanting to try this for over a year, and there is one note in there that's too sharp. It starts out way too sharp, and while it does soften down to something better, there is something in this that's got that cologney sharpness. The whole reason I started getting BPAL is because I don't like most over the counter department store colognes. It's like the manufacturers all think that a guy's scent needs to scream in your face. Anyway... Dee. Dammit. Why did you have to end up smelling like my dad. *sigh*

This is just the kind of thing I like: Clean but masculine, or at least unisex. The aquatic note is really up front and bright, and as that starts to fade, more of the wood starts to come up. (See what I did there?) The aquatic never totally fades, and by the end of it, it's about half and half. It's not a swampy type, either, it's really fresh, almost wandering over into like a laundry line breeze type of fresh. They really did a perfect job making Toad Hall and his wild ride into a scent.

Beeswax. It's tempting to say just honey, but it's slightly more complex than that, and there's just a difference between straight honey, and beeswax. I can't even put my finger on it. There might be a teeny hint of smoke in this, but it's so slight, it might be my imagination. You have to put on a lot, but it lasts a long time and doesn't change from start to finish. Not a big wow factor, but a keeper. Don't think I'll get a bottle, but I might, if I decide to layer it with others.