Mianjo

On my skin, this is Tiresias Lite. All the foody of Tiresias, but with much less tobacco. The tobacco is still there, mind you, but in the background instead of being an integral part of the scent. And I don't detect the patchouli at all, unless it is what is giving this scent its depth. Gorgeous scent.

How about L'Estate bath oil? There is beeswax absolute in it, which translates to the most gorgeous waft of honey. When I use it as an after-shower moisturizer, that's all I can smell around me all day long. And it's not foody at all. It's more of a sweet floral.

I would see if I could get my hands on some Crypt Queen: As sweet as death, as deep as the grave: pomegranate, raspberry, gardenia, plum, and rose with patchouli, black pepper, rose musk, and a hint of blood accord. I see it here and there in the swaps, so you might not have too hard a time getting a hold of some. Dirt is not listed as a note, but there is a definite "dirt and raspberries" vibe to it. Plus! BPAL rose goes funky/metallic on me in most instances, but I can wear Crypt Queen with no issues.

Bumping this thread to note that Spellbound (GC) reminds me a lot of Blinding Glory of Love, minus the initial rush of mintiness when first applied. As I noted in my review, both my husband and I love this scent on me, but I like the idea of being able to wear an equivalent (and not having to be "careful" whom I use it around) appeals greatly. While I'm here, does anyone know an equivalent for Concentration? I really like that sort of minty, lemongrass-y scent. The suggestions at the beginning of the thread didn't quite work for me.

I just did a thread search, and I am surprised that no one mentioned how much this resembles the TAL Blinding Glory of Love--minus that initial rush of mintiness that I get from BGoL. My husband loves that scent on me (as do I), but I feel strange wearing it around anyone but him. At least now I have something I can wear whenever I like, without feeling like I have to be "careful". On my skin, roses and red musk. I usually cannot wear rose--it turns into rose-scented nail polish remover on me. In this scent the roses behave themselves and the red musk is tempered by the gentle powder of the amber. Lovely scent for an evening out. The throw is incredible. I put a tiny bit on my forearm to test--two swipes with the imp wand--and I could smell it without lifting my arm. I left the room and when I came back I could smell that the perfume had permeated the room. Insane. It might have been the minotaur who lives in the walls, but whatever. Anywho...those of you who cannot wear rose might want to try it. It might work!

I hate to say it, but: Aged Snake Oil. I have a bottle that's 1.5 years old, a bottle from 2004, and a decant from 2003. As you age Snake Oil, it gets sweeter and deeper and just incredible. And the more you aged it, the better that vanilla gets. There is a BIG difference even between the newer bottle and the older bottle--the spices are almost non-existent in the older Snake Oil. So put some aside and try it again in year. In the meantime, try everyone else's suggestions. I've gotten some great ideas from this thread.

To quote n3m3sis42: This is exactly what happened to me. Just a really funky, unpleasant wood scent. It stayed that way until I attempted to scrub it off. My skin chemistry disappoints me sometimes.

In the imp: Opium, flowers...and maybe something a little dank suggesting cave air? Wet on my skin: Really pretty...the opium and flowers play nice! I get a little tobacco, a little vanilla. Pretty. Dry on my skin: Rose. Well, more like ROSE. I can smell the opium and vanilla trying to come through, but that rose has obliterated everything in sight. Too bad, because this was shaping up to be really gorgeous.

This didn't work on me. 100% juniper and alcohol. There was a little fizziness as I sniffed it in the imp, and I was hoping for a little of that on my skin but no dice. It does smell like a straight martini (minus the olive), so the concept is right on.

Completely seconding this. I'm from the Caribbean, and this reminds me so much of the ocean there. I wore it yesterday and sniffed myself all day long...I was soooo homesick.

I'm always pimping Freak Show...it has that same cocoa note as Boomslang, but all the other notes blend in a way that you wouldn't think from reading them.

Rats! I figured that was the case, since nothing I tried to get around it worked. Phooey.

I have a question: Does anyone know if you can pay with a credit card through paypal if you have a balance? There is a transaction I'd like to make, but I'd rather save my non-cc paypal for forumites who can only accept that form.

This review is more for me so I can remember that I have tried this than anything else. I say that because I don't know how helpful it will be for other folks. In the vial: Lots of florals...a little sweet--honey and plum, defintely. I get a Pink Moon 07-ish vibe from this...maybe the florals with the honey give that impression? Wet: Rose-scented nail polish remover. Dry: More rose-scented nail polish remover. This went spectacularly bad on my skin. The waft from the vial was beautiful...if only I could have gotten that on my skin. Rose vs my skin chemistry...usually never a good thing.

The Sailor's Den has bay rum, as does Isaac, The Living Skeleton--although in Isaac, it's described as "bay rum aftershave".

Hunger Moon also has clary sage in it. That was a recent moon, so there's still lots of it on the swap and sale boards, I've noticed.

Quick review: I wanted this to be darker than it ended up being. Once it dried, it became this perfumy, woody floral. It's almost soapy(?). I can smell the ginger in there, which my nose wants to read as sort of a powdery citrus. I wanted more oakmoss and more vetiver. Not bad--I can see where it would be beautiful on someone else. It just isn't me.

This was a frimp from the lab. Quick review: I didn't like it. It started off smelling like petroleum jelly. As a kid, my mother used Vaseline on my person for various ailments and maladies...and yeah. Opium Poppy smelled like freshly applied Vaseline when it was wet. It then morphed into some powder or lotion or face cream or something my mother in law uses. That's the way to bring the sex--smell like your mother in law! Yowsa! Anywho...not for me. I'm glad I got the chance to smell this note on it's own. It's nice in blends, but on its own it's not for me.

The notes in this sounded too interesting to pass up. In the imp: Candy and cake. Wet, on skin: This went through a lot of stages. First it smelled really strongly of that cake note in Beaver Moon that I can't wear. I would wear Beaver Moon and all day long think that I smelled like dry birthday sheet cake (you know what I'm talking about. Yeah, you do.). Then it morphed into something sweet and eggy--the custard, I assume. Then over to being buttery and yeasty--the buttered toast. Then candy sweet--the cherries. Very cool. Dry/Drying: I get the cake, the custard, and something like caramel? Those square caramels that take your fillings out if you're not careful. However, there's still too much of that cake for me to wear this comfortably. A fascinating scent because of the way it morphs--I think I smelled every single food listed at one point or another (except the turkey, and--turkey as perfume? Ew!), which was really neat. Yeah, I just can't do that cake note. Not that it's not nice--I can see how others would be in love with it--but on me it's just not love.

Mr. Ibis was interesting. Not at all what I expected from the notes. In vial: I smell something clean and floral. Wet, on skin: Very green. That aloe really leapt to the front. It overtakes pretty much everything else in the blend. Dry/Drying: Clean green floral, is the best I can describe it. It's really neat that way, actually. Honestly not something I would wear--but I can see how it would be great as a room scent or linen spray. Or made into dryer sheets somehow--I can see how it would be awesome to have clean laundry smell like this. Thinking back to American Gods...yeah, I can imagine Mr. Ibis smelling like this. Very evocative of the character it represents.

Habu was all bubblegum, all the time on me. In the vial: Bubblegum. Wet, on skin: Spicy bubblegum! Drying/Dry: I had to look in my package to see if I had somehow missed the Bazooka Joe comic that came with this decant. Nope, no comic...but still all kinds of bubblegum. I like bubblegum...but not enough to want to smell like it. I wish I got the woods, etc. that other folks are getting.

Quick review: This one dried down to Red Hots on me. The way Red Hots smell/taste as you're chewing them? Yep, that's it exactly. I didn't get any Snake Oil out of this one. Pity, because I really wanted to love this--ginger, cinnamon, and cassia are 3 of my favorite notes in fragrances.

I got this as a frimp in an order from a forumite. On me, it's a sort of spice-meets-incense-meets-leather combo. Really nice, but incredibly light. I can barely smell it when it's wet...and then it gets even lighter as it dries...and it's gone in about 30 minutes. I like it, but I like to be able to smell my fragrance without keeping my nose glued to my wrist. A little too light for me, which I suppose is the point--that makes it harder to describe.

THE DODO "Red musk, lemon peel, sugar cane, cassia, white sandalwood, mango, and agarwood." In the imp: Sweet cinammon. Wet on skin: Something vaguely murky and unpleasant. Bitter medicinal smell, overlaid by the cassia, overlaid by the fruit. So interesting. Drying/Dry: As it dries down, that medicinal quality--the agarwood, I'm guessing--doesn't so much go away as recede into the background. What's left behind is something sweet, spicy, and woody. It's hard to describe it--the best I can do is to say that the fruit is well-blended and takes center stage. The woods and musk anchor the scent (fruits can LOSE THEIR RABBIT ASS MINDS on my skin, but this doesn't happen with The Dodo). The sugar cane sweetens it up just a touch. The cassia, thankfully, is a bit of spice. I don't get the OMGCASSIA everyone else seems to be getting, and for that I'm happy. I'd also like to say that I was scared of the lemon peel (citrus also can amp to levels of doom), but I guess since it's just the peel...I get a bit of the acidity, but not much. All in all, a lovely scent. I believe I'll keep my imp and wear it a lot. Then perhaps an upgrade to a 5ml. I really, really like this one. Call it a sweeter Red Phoenix.

Horreur Sympathique was a lab frimp. When I looked up the notes I decided that it probably wouldn't work, but I tried it anyway. First sniff from the imp was interesting, because I could smell the champagne grapes. It was like the grapes had been left too long on the vine and were starting to ferment anyway--I could actually feel the tickle of the bubbles way back in my throat. It was a truly interesting reaction. Long story short, it didn't work on me. The wine did what it doeson my skin--punk all the other notes into a corner, and block them from joining in the fun. And this time, Champagne Grapes had Wine's back. Oh, well.