fiddledragon

(I hope I didn't miss a similar topic already here; searching on likely words didn't turn up anything): I'm on a quest to find a scent that's sunlight-in-a-bottle, particularly now that it's getting really clold. Many of the obvious choices have a lot of citrus in them, which while not unpleasant, goes kind of lemon-fresh on me much of the time. So far I've tried: Sol: nice and spicy-creamy-citrus, but not quite right -- it needs maybe honey or something warm. Sol Invictus: almost pure dried orange peel; indistinguishable from Fortunato on my skin. Et Lux Fuit: Very lemon-fresh cleaner...does it get any warmer aged? Tum: Probably the closest so far, but the grape can end up being *too* fruity depending on where in its cycle my skin chemistry is. I do really like the sweet non-citrus fruit plus warm resin combination. Ahathoor: The spices can be a bit too spice-cabinet on me, but it's in the right ballpark. Ra: The wet stage is a very earthy rooty plant smell that I love, but it isn't sunny at all. Kephra: Certainly works as the dark of the sun; a wonderful deep bitter resin. Now I want the opposite of that. Tiger Lily: If I could find something like this plus frankincense and maybe just a touch of spice, it would be perfect. As it is, it's too fresh-flower to be sunlight, but still one of my favorite bpals. Litha: Very lemony when wet, but gets closer in the drydown; then it's a nice polleny honey smell. Still too faint when dry to really work, and the lemon-fresh stage lasts for an hour or two. I have, due to a slight lapse in memory, *two* imps of Sundew coming in swaps. Also on the list to try are Tarot: The Sun and Beltaine. Does anyone else have favorite "sunny" scents, particularly those that might not have an obviously solar name?

Penitence IX (9): Bottle: something almost minty but juicier, something kind of spicy, and the resins beneath. Hard to pick out individual notes. Wet: What *is* that smell?? High and cool and mintlike, but not mint. Almost sassafrass? There's a sweetness that's maybe tonka, but it might just be the resins. This isn't my normal thing, but it's very nice. It would be a nice meditation or study blend; it's very grounding, and will probably be more so once the resins age. Dry: Still that high sweet herbal scent, now bordering on lemony and soapy. There's maybe a *very* herbal lavender or a hint of dry rose. I think age will improve this one. Penitence XX (30): Bottle: I'm honestly mostly getting the resins in the bottle. Wet: Resins and cedar. This is a lot like Cathedral, but the woods aren't doing the Hamster Shavings of Doom thing yet. Dry: Resins and sweet cedar, with maybe a faint hint of spice and a touch of vanilla. Very nice; a lot like Death Cap but not quite as sweet. Definitely a keeper. Penitence XXXIV (34): Bottle: Citrus! A delicious juicy sweet-sour citrus...not quite lime, not quite grapefruit. It might be a mix of several. Wet: Still glorious citrus. This is less juicy on the skin, and now almost exactly the effect you get when you take citrus peel and squash it to make the oils come out. But it's very well-blended, so it doesn't jump out as one particular fruit. The Penitence is lurking under there somewhere giving depth, but is definitely less of a dominant presence than in the other two. Dry: This is Moxie's more sedate, scholarly sister. The bouncy citrus is there but tempered by resins and doesn't have that cloying, Creamsicle edge that Moxie has on me. A good clean job-interview scent. Penitence LVII (1007?) Bottle: Another mystery! This is a heavy scent with a kind of doctor's office hint of latex to it. I can't place what the dominant note is and the Penitence is nowhere to be found. There's maybe a hint of black pepper...from the way my stomach is perking up, I suspect it is trying to tell me that this is a scent normally associated with food, but that I'm just not placing when it's in a tiny bottle of liquid. Some fruit or something. Wet: This is a heavy, sticky oil that's actually mostly Penitence on. It's very similar to the old bottle of Midnight Mass I had, so there's something in here making it smell more aged and rich and sweet...for all I know, they just put some aged resin oil in along with the fresh stuff. The latex note has thankfully fled. There's a wood/smoke note in there, but it's not taking over like those scents often do on me. Dry: More of the same as wet, with the wood becoming more defined and a spicy edge coming out that's one of those other resins I can never distinguish. There's that mystery note lurking around the edges...it's maybe a *very* dry vanilla or tonka? Either way, mmm... this is like curling up with a book in the corner of some cozy old theological library. I can even make myself get a paper note, but that might just be the wood and my imagination; BPAL's paper never works on me.

I would recommend Succor, from the Panacea line...on me at least, it's a strong bay laurel and olive oil scent, with something spicy backing it up. Maybe a bit of myrrh or something like that, or just a hint of cinnamon.

Ronin + Bezoar is remarkably similar to U. It still needs that dash of spice that the leather gives U. Ronin + Bezoar + Chimera, maybe?

It's actually not all that uncommon to be allergic to tropical woods.

Grassy green scents don't work for me, either; they go all fake-smelling. For evergreens, I'd suggest: Nocnitsa, Black Forest, Loup Garou, Slobbering Pine, Jabberwocky, The Jersey Devil, Thanatopsis, Yew-Trees, and Bayou. The three scents you list all have pine and nothing else evergreen -- more pine-centric scents might be a good place to start.

So, had anyone else ever had a set of those fruit-scented eraser caps? This smells exactly like the green ones. Sadness. At least it looks like it works on everyone else, so someone should want it!

2010 Version This is mostly daemonorops and musk, with a nice light amber base. It's surprisingly faint on me given the notes, but I actually like that. Often dragon's blood and the darker musks (which this definitely is) go all hot and heavy on me, and while they're not bad, per se, they're just not really the sort of scent atmosphere I'm looking for. This is a softer, close-to-the-skin version...sort of like Dragon's Musk through about four layers of quilt batting. It should age beautifully :-)

This is mostly juniper, oakmoss, and patchouli on me, with maybe a hint of balsam at first. I amp juniper and was hoping I'd get away with it this time given the other heavy-hitters. Nope. It's a lovely juniper, granted, but I might as well just get one of the GC ones and save myself the expense. If you amp evergreens, this might be one to avoid.

Warm, dry, round, golden, tart, hay, cardamom, balsam. I tried Bezoar to see if it had the same balsam note that I love in U, and I was not disappointed :-) It doesn't have U's sweet sexy leather-vanilla thing going on, but Bezoar is a lighter, more focused version. And with cardamom! Normally my skin eats cardamom, but in this blend it comes out beautifully. The camphorous tone of the cardamom blends nicely with the hay and balsam. Fresh, it's almost exactly like wet pine resin with cardamom, then the balsam deepens and some hay and a touch of wood comes out. I can see this being a luscious layering blend to dry out something overly-sweet or add depth to a floral. Bottle for sure :-)

Wet this one is fruity and alcoholic, lots of cognac and quince and a touch of vanilla. As it dries, the tobacco comes on strong and harsh. I was worried that it would ruin this one like it did Black Temple Burlesque Troupe, but this tobacco is a bit more restrained. The effect is actually not unlike a strong black tea. The drydown is like some sort of very nice fruit and spice flavored black tea with a little bit of vanilla and honey sweetening it up. Only a little, though; this is a very "dry" scent. On me it's surprisingly masculine given the notes. I'm getting a mental image of some sweet older 19th century gentleman relaxing in his smoking lounge with a nice cup of tea and a pipe of fruity tobacco. Verdict: I'm not sure it's bottle-worthy, but I'd certainly use this imp and might consider getting another one.

Mmmm....lilac. This is a wonderful true cool petaly lilac. It's like a fresh breeze on a warm late spring day sitting among lilac bushes. I get a touch of lavendar, some musk, and what might be wisteria, but it's mostly lilac on me. White/clear/crystal/sheer musks often go all department-store on me, but this just has a touch of musk that deepens the scent nicely. I'll be reaching for this one a lot as the weather warms up!

This is very well-blended. The lilac, vanilla, tonka, and woods combine to a warm, furry, sweet scent where none of the notes sticks out as something distinct. I tried this one yesterday to compare with today's Needlework, and this is definitely a warm, winter lilac as compared to Neelework's fresh floral spring/summer scent. The vanilla lushes out the lilac such that it goes almost jasmine-like.

On me, Okayaki is as light, creamy floral-vanilla with a hint of bergamot and a very green cardamom. Fellow mint-haters, relax: this is the vanilla-coconut-creamy sort of snow, not the chilly mint kind. It's surprisingly warm and sweet for the notes listed. This would be a great all-seasons scent...it's not too heavy for summer, but not to fresh and light for winter. Both the cardamom and lily go very green and stem-y, but not the grassy green scent that tends to go fake on me. It's like snowballs made of squished-up lilies! I may need a bottle of this one.

These four notes are almost perfectly balanced on my skin. Sweet, juicy orange, pungent clove, anise, and cumin. It's a very mulled-cider effect. The cumin adds a savory note that makes it smell sort of...North African, maybe? It's a more grown-up version of March Hare or Al-Shairan. This is just too foody for me, though, especially with that cumin. I feel like I should be stewing my wrist with chicken!

All the notes in this are incredibly well-blended on me. The coconut milk leaves a creamy note almost at the back of my throat as I sniff. Together it is a cool, creamy, floral blend. It actually smells almost exactly like really good lotion. I'm not likely to wear it, but it's a beautiful blend.

Sadly, this leather was one that doesn't work on me. It was a very sharp, polished, black shoe leather scent. The wood went very dry and the olive oil almost disappeared, so on me is was Essence of Shoe Store, complete with cardboard boxes for extra authenticity!

When I first tested this, I was in YAYDECANTSARRIVED mode and had run out of patches of arm to test, so I put Ronin on my knee. And it was the most gorgeous clear sweet honey with a touch of black pepper and sandalwood. I then went to give it a more thorough test the next day -- wrists, pulse points, cleavage. On my upper body it is a bit less sweet and more black-peppery, with slightly stronger sandalwood and some green from the oakmoss. It's a very nice next-to-skin scent that lasts almost all day. I do kind of wish it stayed the way it smelled on my knees, though...

Hanerot Halalu smells almost exactly like BB's Honey Beeswax Lip Balm on me.

In imp: Hello vetiver, yes I'm very glad to see you, now kindly stop hogging the stage. On me: There is a momentary whiff of something like rubbing alcohol, then the most beautiful vetiver I have ever smelled. The three notes are perfectly balanced, with the vetiver as base, the sweet sandalwood filling out the middle, and the neroli at the back as a faint, tart top note. It's just at the border of medicinal on me, but I might keep this around to age and see if it mellows a bit. I might also try layering it with something a bit warmer and sweeter, maybe O.

In imp: cream and leather. On me: Ooo! A very nice soft warm leather with sweet frankincense and a hint of creaminess. There's a nice hint of ginger at the back...a powdery ground-ginger smell rather than fresh ginger root, which can go sour on me. This is very unlike most other BPALs I've tried. It's leather without being either harsh and biker-dude-esque or making me smell like a leather armchair. Nicely warm and spicy. There's a touch of something that makes me think of Japanese candy stores...sort of like those salty licorice olive things. I'd describe this as "butch androgynous" in terms of gender, if that makes any sense. I'm definitely keeping this imp, though it's not something I can see buying a bottle of. It's a great fall/winter scent. (Score! One of the non-embarrassing-named ones works on me!) Edit to add: this vanishes within a couple hours, but I expect it will get stronger with age.

This was my wild impulse buy of the Lupercalias. Cedar often goes hamster-cage on me, and mint does unspeakable things most of the time. But cranberry! And thyme! And Lovers in a Carp Streamer! In the imp: vague tart floral; I can't really pick out any notes yet. On me: This is very faint...there's a whiff of mint (actual mint! not unspeakable horror!), backed up by cranberry and cedar. It's very much a "clean fresh" scent. I get a whiff of thyme and tobacco flower as it dries. It settles down into a very nice fresh herbal scent...not bitter or medicinal, almost aquatic. The woods don't go all overpowering on me, and the mint is actually quite lovely. It's a real green mint leaf scent, not candyish at all. The fruits stay tart and understated. The tobacco flower goes slightly soapy. This is a very "adult" perfume, and not in the nudge-nudge-wink-wink kind of way. It's very businesslike and wants an expensive tailored suit. This is one of the few BPALs I've come across that makes me think "normal perfume" and yet is appealing. This would be a perfect way to introduce someone to BPAL who is scared off by "weird" notes and descriptions. Weird name, weird painting, weird notes...beautifully classic perfume that nobody would think was odd if introduced to without the description.

Imp: Patchouli and sandalwood. On me: Patchouli and cedar with a hint of rose. This one is a bit heavier than I usually like, but very nice. The rose makes the incense a bit less "Hello, I am one of those shops with the swishy Indian dresses". It's a very upscale scent.

In imp: Plastic! It smells like off-gassing plastic inflatable pool things. Ick. Color me confused. On me: Bitter herbs and...if someone tried to make a donut-scented plastic squishy stress-ball, this is what it would smell like. I've been feeling under the weather today and several things have gone bitter, so maybe I'll give this another try in a week or two.

In imp: Yup; chocolate. Very similar to Bliss. On me: Wet, the chocolate and amber are having a bit of a smackdown over who gets to be the dominant note. I would have thought those two would blend quite nicely, but it's clashing somehow. Dry, the amber is most prominant, layered over a very nice chocolate. As it dries, it goes through a brief period where it really does smell *exactly* like those cheap plasticky chocolate coins. The amber is going a bit "perfumy". Verdict: I don't know whether I need another chocolate scent, but this one is cute. I'll keep it around for a while.