Dymphna

When I want to get search results on something too short to search for, if I can remember any of the listed notes, I just stick those in the search field. For Two, Five, and Seven, I just searched for grass (because rose would have given way too many hits) and it popped up. I realize that doesn't help people who have never heard of a given scent before, but it works for when I kinda-sorta remember reading a scent description but can't remember all of it and I want to see the full list of notes. And for those scents you've never heard of before, there's always the possibility of sniffing for a recognizable note and searching for that. I think I've given this way too much thought.

First of all, I want to thank all of you for your recommendations! I'm really sorry that I didn't post sooner, but the past week has been the week from hell, family drama-wise, and when I did have time I was just too tired and miserable to type out a coherent post. However! I met my friend today for coffee and brought her a plastic baggie full of imps to try. I brought all the ones you guys suggested that I already had, plus a few more that I thought she might want to try. (As a side note, it really made me laugh to see how far I've come in my BPAL addiction. First of all, I'm finally one of those people who is happy to get rid of imps so that she can get her imp boxes closed! Second, I thought of the imps I brought as "a few," but when I counted there were actually twenty-two of them in the bag.) Anyway, she sniffed all of them and liked quite a few. She dabbed on Dublin, Bewitched, and Sudha Segara right away, and she's going to try the rest over the next few days. I ended up giving her eight to keep and lending her a few more. These are the ones she liked: Alice (she didn't take it because she knows I love it, but she liked it) Annabel Lee (this one she has to give back, but I'll try to track down a bottle if she wants it) The Apothecary (I knew she'd like this) Bewitched (I knew she'd *love* this) Bliss (she said it smells like peanuts, but she still liked it) Budding Moon (I took this just in case and she really liked it so I gave it to her) Dublin (this is another one I knew she'd love as soon as I got it as a frimp this week) Jailbait (she merely liked this one) Katharina (this is another one I didn't let her take with her--I'm so greedy!) Kumiho (I figured she'd like this because it's so clean and sharp) The Lady of Shalott (it reminds me of Budding Moon, and she likes them both) Montresor (just a bit in the imp, but it hates me and she likes it, so it's hers) Santa Eularia des Riu (I don't like it, she does, so I gave it to her) Sudha Segara (I wouldn't let her take this one, either, but I'll get her a bottle if she wants) The Tell-Tale Heart (she liked this, but not enough to take it) White Rabbit (she said it reminded her of her grandma, in a good way, so I gave it to her) I knew she would like a lot of these, but I was surprised by some of her picks. (And her non-picks. She hated Velvet even in the imp, whereas I love it in the imp but it goes icky on my skin.) It was so much fun watching her grinning as she sniffed and dabbed and separated them into Want and Don't Want piles. A brand new BPAL addict in the making and I did it! But not by myself, because you all helped. Thank you again!

Ooh, lots of ideas! Thank you both! I'm writing down all of these. I've already got Kumiho, White Rabbit, and Velvet. I had Dorian, but I swapped it away because it was too sweet on me, which was such a disappointment. I'll have to get another imp of that. Hopefully, I'll be able to get some of these before her birthday at the end of the month and put them into one of those pretty little organza bags as part of her gift. She always comes up with such great ideas for me--my "birthday bag" last month was full of goodies--and I want to make sure I give her fun things, too, because she deserves them. Thanks again for your help, ladies! Oh, and Malista, Pure Grace sometimes smells to me like clean laundry rinsed with lavender water, and sometimes like a sort of freshly-showered scent. It's one of those scents that makes you smell like you smell like soap and water rather than perfume. Based on these recommendations and other reviews I've seen, I'm dying to try Dirty, Embalming Fluid, and Sea of Glass (mmm, I love oceany scents) for myself!

Hi, all! Well, it was inevitable. As soon as I had the chance, I started working on enabling my best friend. It used to be that I'd try to hide my latest "new favorite perfume" from her because she would invariably fall in love with it and wear it all the time, thus ruining it for me. But with BPAL there's such variety that this probably (hopefully!) won't happen. So, what I need are recommendations for scents that are either very clean or soft and sandalwoody. Her current favorite scents are Philosophy Pure Grace, something called Breathe (which smells fantastic on her!), and the sandalwood roller oil from the Gap. She also likes herbal notes, I think because they have that "fresh" scent. I know Dirty is supposed to smell very clean, like clean laundry. I haven't tried it yet, though. I have tried Jolly Roger, which smelled fresh and blue to me, and The Apothecary, which smelled fresh and green. Anything else? Oh, and I love Pure Grace, too--it's the only non-BPAL scent that I've used lately, albeit only occasionally--so I'll be happy to hear if there's anything that smells like that. I really want to enable her, and her birthday is coming up so it's the perfect excuse to throw some imps at her. Thanks for any help you can give me!

I know what you said about your skin amping honey, but if you ever get a chance to try Alice, you may be surprised. On me, it's almost pure carnation with just a bit of creamy milk in the background. I wore it today and someone told me, "You smell gooooood!" Funny how I didn't like it at first. Now that my skin is used to it, it's one of my favorites. Ooh, I love Brisingamen but I had no idea that it had carnation in it. Maybe that's why the amber doesn't turn all powdery on me.

That's a good idea, thanks. I'll have to check first to make sure it won't burn his skin, even diluted. (Probably not, but cinnamon kills my skin, so I want to be careful.)

Hi, everyone. I hope I get this right, this my first time posting a new topic. I know it's a serious longshot, but has anyone here smelled Roger & Gallet's Gingembre (Ginger) soap? The last time I bought perfume, the saleslady threw in some minis and when I smelled that one I almost died. My husband doesn't like wearing scents, and normally I don't like anything on a man except a bit of aftershave, but for this...if he smelled like this stuff, I'd be in heaven. He agreed that it was "okay" (his word for everything he doesn't love or hate) and that if I could find the cologne for him, he'd wear it. Unfortunately, according to their site, R&G only make this as a women's cologne. Crazy! This stuff smells like the best-smelling man in the world, nothing like a women's scent. I know I could've gotten it for him anyway, but I was afraid that it would smell different, more feminine, as a cologne since the company considers it a women's scent. So, now I'm left with this little mini soap, still in its box, which I keep on my desk and occasionally (okay, practically every day) sniff and sigh over. And when I found the Recommendations section, I thought maybe there was a chance to find something that smells like it. So! Can anyone recommend a BPAL scent that's spicy (but gingery, not cinammony) and sharp, not at all sweet, with a bit of musk and a masculine edge to it? Pleasepleaseplease? Because if I can find something that approximates this scent, I will be a very happy woman. And my husband will be a very happy man, if you know what I'm sayin' and I think you do. Thanks in advance for any help you can give me!

Is there a jumping-up-and-down emoticon? I just tried the frimp of Wilde the lab sent with my Luperci. It smells like Gingembre, but without the ginger! I'm almost there! Granted, it's a little on the bright side, but it's close. Yippeeeeeee!!! Ahem. Just thought I'd share. Now to get my hands on some gingery BPAL scents and start experimenting.

I don't have a suggestion, but I used to wear Aromatics Elixir all the time so I'll be keeping an eye on this thread.

I agree, I was just coming here to recommend Eden. It's my absolute favorite so far. Sweet, creamy coconut--it doesn't smell at all like suntan oil, though, just very soft and yummy. Very comforting. I got it as a frimp and used it up in a matter of days. Now I've got two more imps, am waiting on a 5ml, and last night I realized I should have ordered a 10ml. At least. I love this scent so much! I keep meaning to post a review. I should go do that.

Okay, I'm mostly here to learn because I'm a newbie and this thread is...timely for me. But I do have one suggestion. If, and only if, you know you like it, a bit of Gluttony on your wrist might be good for when social norms prevent you from ignoring everyone around you and just sticking your face in a bowl of ice cream and swallowing it down like a whale eating plankton. (Cravings? Me? Nah.) Not that it smells like ice cream, but it's got that sweet, sticky baked goods smell. Personally, it makes me want to die, but if you know it works for you, it might help. Just don't lick your wrist.

Hee! He already knows that it's supposed to be a women's cologne, though. If I can't find a good oil substitute, I'll just buy it anyway and have him try it. If it smells like the soap then it won't smell girly at all, so it shouldn't be a big deal. Oh, I wish I could describe how good this stuff smells. I think my original comment about it smelling like the best-smelling man in the world pretty much covers it, though of course tastes differ. It's just so yummy.

Thanks, Miss Lynx. Just my luck there'd be a (possibly) perfect BPAL equivalent and it would have to be a hard to find LE. I checked eBay and there's nothing right now, but I'll be haunting it. In the meantime, I'll try some of the other recommendations and see how they work. I really appreciate everyone's help!

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing at first about R&G because my mom used to get a lot of their soaps and they seemed pretty unisex. (My favorite was always the vetiver.) But when I checked their site, they described Gingembre as having "oriental flowers." Now, I don't smell flowers in this *at all*--it's a very "men's cologne" scent to me--but I was afraid maybe the cologne smelled different. I may end up trying it anyway if I can't find a good substitute.

Thanks, TroubleDoll! From their descriptions, Sudha Segara + Malediction sound like they'd make an interesting combination, and may come really close. I'm sniffing the Gingembre soap right now (again!) and it really smells to me like a yummy, expensive men's cologne with deliciously sharp spices. So good!

Thanks for the recs! I probably wouldn't have thought to try Bengal (on him, anyway) because it's supposed to smell like chai, which to me is mostly cardamom and milk. I'll have to include Sudha Segara, Kumiho, and Bengal in my next order so he can try them all just to see. I told him most of the scents are neutral, so he'll try whatever I give him, since you never know what's going to smell too masculine/feminine on you until you try. (Tempest smelled like really strong men's cologne on me.)

Wow, I don't know if my husband will like it or if it'll smell like the soap, but if Shub Niggarath really smells like "evil gingersnaps" I have got to get some And maybe I'll try Devil's Night, too. Uh, if I can figure out what section it's in. I thought it was an LE, but I don't see it in the LE reviews. And in the meantime, once the lab's search function is back online, I'll do a search for ginger/pepper and musk notes. Thank you for the suggestions! Wah! That sucks. I think I'd better back up my spreadsheet once I'm done updating it.