Electra

I actually hate Snake Oil, but I love Green Tree Viper (so if you want something that smells like Snake Oil, this might not be the one for you). It's delightful. Boomslang smelled too much like Snake Oil (just with a heavy hit of chocolate, which I also don't like) to me, and Banded Sea Snake was nothing special on my skin. Saw Scaled Viper was pretty good, but not enough so that I wanted a bottle. I did like it much better than the original Snake Oil, though.

It's aquatic and scented toilet paper on me as well -- no woods to speak of (pity, because I love woodsy scents!). Powdery, clean, and slightly sweet. It actually reminds me a bit of Mr. Ibis, though they don't smell alike -- there's a very similar clean-unobtrusive-slightly sweet-slightly aquatic-skin scent thing going on. It's pretty. It isn't what I was expecting from reading the notes listing so I was a bit disappointed initially, and I do hope that as it ages the woods come out more, but it's pretty, and certainly inoffensive. Would be a good scent for days that you just don't feel like wearing perfume, and a good office scent.

"Boy magnet" really, really depends on the boy, I think -- you hear all the time that guys love vanilla (eugh...which could be why I'm always single ), but scent preferences are really personal, and I've had wildly favorable male reactions to things as random as Black Dahlia and Frost Moon. But! Here is an 18-page thread re: scents to attract others to get you started .

I bought a 10 mL of this before the Tarot oils were discontinued because Death is my year card this year. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I like it tremendously. I do tend to like woodsy, spicy, masculine scents, so take that into consideration. This would not be a scent for everyone. It's deep and dark and earthy, and I think there's cedar in it somewhere, because I'm smelling a note in common with The World (which went to pencil shavings on me). Cedar usually amps on me, but if it *is* cedar, the other notes are holding it in check. It's just very dark and earthy and a bit spicy, and very REAL. You don't get the sense of "oh, I'm wearing a dirt perfume" -- it smells like the outdoors in a very genuine way. I'm total crap at describing this, but I love it.

I don't get any vanilla musk at all (pity, as I was really looking forward to that), or any discernable lily. On me, Victoria is a demure tea rose. This is rather amazing, because rose usually doesn't behave at all on my skin (it either goes to dryer sheet or it amps to screaming levels), so the other notes must be keeping it in check somehow. It's young and old fashioned and terribly pretty and the absolute essence of the character...but it's also completely, totally Not Me.

Samhain and Trick or Treat are both past limited edition blends. Samhain has come out in Halloween updates in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006; Trick or Treat was (IIRC) available only this past year, in the 2006 Halloween update. One or both might be available in the Halloween update that we expect to go up in the next couple of days. You should be able to find reviews for both of them in the "Limited Editions" section of the Reviews subforum.

Try Lick It (the original -- it's LE, but you should be able to find some in swaps. Get Lick It '05, not Lick It Again, because LIA fades much faster). It's a very cold peppermint backed by a gorgeous candied vanilla musk, and it lasts forever. Also try Cloister Graveyard in the Snow. It's not sugary, but it's a very cold mint backed by white musk (which makes it almost creamy) and a whisper of incense, and it's incredibly long-lasting for a mint scent. Green Tree Viper is a gorgeous candied mint, but it's more of a warm mint than a cold mint to me. Still worth a try if you like mint scents, though.

I traveled around the Mediterranean last summer and wore Olokun pretty much exclusively (I had another imp of something spicy and sexy for night -- don't remember what it was, though). Olokun was fantastic for sightseeing in searing heat -- it's such a clean, fresh scent that it never feels overpowering or cloying. It's quite refreshing. I also happen to love it, so I never got tired of it . The bonus to wearing one scent for your entire trip is that when you smell it afterward, you have really strong scent memories connected to it. One whiff of Olokun now takes me straight back to Rome. It never fails to put a smile on my face.

Oh, this is so pretty. In every other BPAL lavender blend I've tried, the lavender has been bold and aggressive. Not so here. This is a quiet, pretty skin scent. It's slightly spicy (lavender-spicy, not kitchen-spices-spicy), and as noted above, the magnolia acts more to take the edge off the lavender than to stand out as an independent note. I really love this one. It smells like a simple but sophisticated classic perfume. Very elegant.

On me, this is a very aggressive grassy aquatic. It smells like wet grass on a clear morning. I'm kind of delighted by it, actually. I'm not sure how much I'll actually wear it so am debating whether or not to keep my bottle, but it's very pretty.

This is WAY too sweet and fruity for me. Holy cow. Here's the thing, though -- it's very, very pretty. And it IS a swirling, shifting scent -- at first all I get is the fruity candies, and then I get all grass, and then back to the candies. It's very neat, and is a wonderful interpretation. Sadly, it's just not a winner for me. I can't do scents that are so sweet.

I *love* Old Spice. Moving along...have him try Crowley.

If you like aquatics, Thalassa is simply magnificent. You must try this one. Woods -- Pulcinella & Teresina is quite woody. Read the reviews to see if that one appeals to you. Resins/Spices -- Mme. Moriarty is probably one to try. It didn't work on my skin, but a lot of people absolutely love it. As people have mentioned, there's the Snake Pit -- if you like Snake Oil, possibly check out a few of these. There are varieties with fruit, with leather, with seamoss...the only one I've tried and liked is Green Tree Viper, which is not what you're looking for (spicy mint), but they're some interesting possibilities.

From my review of TAL Nocturne: Might be worth seeking out a decant to try.

Sheer and white -- the first thing that came to mind for me was Mr. Ibis from The Carousel. It's a lovely skin scent. If you want a sheer white floral, perhaps something along the lines of Eternal. It feels lighter to me than the other white florals that I've tried (I'm thinking specifically of The Evening Star here). Morella would be a fabulous choice, if you can get your hands on some. It's a past LE, but I'd think you could find it in swaps. Berenice (from the same collection) didn't work on my skin, but if it worked with your chemistry it would probably be perfect. My other "clean, fresh" BPALs tend to be aquatics -- Olokun, Thalassa, Storm Moon -- or things like F5, which don't exactly sound like what you're looking for.

I'll probably wear Boomslang, even though I don't like it (Snake Oil and my skin do not play nice together) -- it's just too appropriate to NOT wear.

Why am I not even a little bit surprised to come into this thread and see zenvodunista pimping the Tez? Mr. Nancy is extremely syrupy on me in the early stages -- way too syrupy for my tastes, but some people really like it -- but the drydown is really nice. Spicy and holiday-esque. Eat Me is cool -- the description scared me, because cake? Ack! But it actually smells sort of incensey-fruity -- Snake Charmer Lite, if you will. Gourmand, but not foody IMO. Wulric the Wolfman isn't really GC, but Carnaval Diabolique is around for the foreseeable future and is easy to get decants of. Wulric is cocoa and lavendar. Neat scent. I don't like cocoa, but it's an interesting blend if you do. I know you wanted GCs, but I have to recommend one non-GC -- Jolasveinar (Yule LE, but you might be able to get it in swaps) is a very cool gourmand scent -- it's pastries and pine. One of my favorites, and I'm not into the foodies.

Edit -- never mind, I already posted that one. Haunted = Shalimar Eau Legere Also, for people who like Lolita Lempicka, I get a distinctly Lolita Lempicka-ish drydown from Green Tree Viper. So if minty Lolita Lempicka appeals, that one might be one to try.

This is a weird one, but Safari -- it's great when I'm really, really upset and need to calm the hell down. So very deeply soothing. Also Antique Lace, for me, but that's more because I associate it with one really great weekend mid-my last breakup when I went away with my family and puttered around in little Northeastern towns and read and watched old movies in front of the fire, and didn't think of him at all. Every time I wear it it takes me back to that weekend, and that's very safe and cozy-feeling. So if you have a similar scent with strong ties to a very happy time (NOT one with your ex-partner), then that's probably a really good choice. I also like Dove's Heart. I've used it, it works.

I haven't smelled the C&E fragrance, but Thalassa is a really gorgeous salty ocean aquatic.

Urd terrifies me. I smelled like a hippie drinking grape Koolaid. My problem with it wasn't the patchouli, though -- it was the grape. I don't like fruity scents, and that is some strong purple grape!! Verchneryaya has patchouli? Really?? Huh. I couldn't smell it at ALL. I'm in the "I like patchouli but it doesn't always like me" camp. My problem is often the other notes that the patchouli is blended with. Snake Oil, Sin, Mr. Jacquel -- my skin turned them into boiled potatoes. (Then later my skin started turning Snake Oil into screamingly strong baby powder.) Anne Bonny and Mme Moriarty? Pencils. Al-Shairan? Juicy Fruit gum. I assume Green Tree Viper has patchouli in it, because it has Snake Oil in it -- I love Green Tree Viper, though I can't smell the patchouli (I can't smell the Snake Oil). I love Tiresias, but again, I can't pick out the patchouli. Geek, same deal. For patchouli blends that actually smell something like patchouli -- I like Luperci, but I looove Old Scratch. I really ought to get around to ordering a bottle. It's smooth and round and deep and gorgeous.

If you like Lolita Lempicka, you might like Green Tree Viper. I like Green Tree Viper much, much better, but the drydown of Green Tree Viper smells like a minty version of Lolita Lempicka on me.

A Stranger in Camp starts out as juicy evergreen on me, but morphs into campfire smoke after about ten minutes.

Ha. I wasn't kidding when I said I amped "all citrus, including verbena, to screaming deafening levels." Wet, in the decant and immediately upon touching my skin -- strong syrupy cherry. Drydown, for about five minutes -- no more cherry, now lots of spices. Drydown, after five minutes -- all I can smell is verbena. It's drowning out everything else.

First sniff -- dead on. How does she DO that? Drydown -- this is an odd scent, to me -- it's simultaneously grassy and aquatic. My nose is really confused by that. It's a very clean scent, and summery. It's not quite me, but it's pretty, and I'm glad I tried it. Actually, you know what it makes me think of? White sheets drying on a line in the breeze. I would LOVE to have laundry that smelled like this. It would be an absolutely gorgeous linen spray.