annemathematics

my experience is similar to windbourne's up above. the initial scent is heavy on the galbanum, then bits of pepper and vanilla (my nose's take on benzoin) come dancing in and run around and make mischief. then everything quiets back down and there's only galbanum. the galbanum is lovely, but the highlight of this scent to me is the black and white static which is a very fleeting part of the perfume experience.

bright! sugared! vanilla! peppermint! it takes all things vanilla sugar up to bracing new heights. there is a rich purity to the sweetness. sugar as a magic healing power crystal rather than cavity-inducer. I love lick it now. there's a partial I carry around with me in my bike bag at all times. it banishes headaches, grumpiness, sluggishness and scowls. also, local application instantly soothes bug bites (it also calmed my skin instantly the one time I applied a spicy scent that reddened my skin). applied to pulse points or in a lotion, it is an amazing antidote to hot sticky humid summer weather.

a beautiful soft rose with musky resins. has a low throw but unlike many rose scents this one last and lasts for hours on me. beautiful!

salty pink rose. I wouldn't label it as soapy but it does remind me of taking a big bubble bath in the middle of a very rainy day. all cozy and warm and you don't have to do anything you don't want to do. very much a comforting scent, I find myself reaching for it when I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. the rose is calming and the salt is delicious.

2014 version on me all I smell is the clove. a complex clove, supported by other notes, but pretty much straight smokey clove clove CLOVE! big throw, lasts longer than does my desire to wear such strong clove.

this is beautiful. much like the poem it starts off with heady bright proud rose, which is then overtaken by rich and chewy resins, the vetiver very much in charge. alas. the whole event unfolds within twenty minutes and then fades away completely after an hour. rose and worm reduced to a memory.

sweet creamy rose that has a good throw and lasts for hours. this is bright and light and girly. did I mention creamy? like giant dallops of rosey whipped cream. the beeswax here is subtle, adding more texture than strong fragrance note. one of my favorites of 2014's luper florals.

warm rich woods wrapped in a maple sweetness. this is a beautiful scent. on me it has a good throw and lasts all day. I find it cozy and comforting, the autumnal sugared woods cousin to picture books in winter's sweet leather-bound books.

this smells like sweaty musty grimy dirty-from-too-much-filthy-fun coconut and I love it. the coconut is coconutty but not actually that foodie, if that makes sense. this is both a comforting scent and a sexy one. so below is amazing.

soft beat up, worn-in leather, delicious sticky spicy balsam, and a soft light dusting of real, not candy, cinnamon. I adore hatta. it has a low throw and requires much slathering, but it's such a beautiful sum of its lovely parts that I'm happy to reapply. it layers well with many things and it just warm and rich and fits like the perfume version of your favorite jeans/boots/jacket. another winner in the fragmented alice family of amazing smells!

I bought this expecting incredible dark twisted strangeness, but the strangest thing about it was how completely my expectations were dashed. this is a big pink translucent candy. flavored strawberry and melon. no blood. no woods. no bacon. just sweet pure bright fruity berry candy. a very clean and luminous scent. I tried it once out of the mail and again a few weeks later, and this impression has held over time. no morphing, no changing in the bottle or on the skin. if you like pink and you like sweet and you like candy, this is your scent! brighter and lighter than rosy maple.

honestly, bpal blends tend to set me to dreaming in the best way possible. I do sometimes use minty blends (krampuslaufen and lick it now are both yule LE's at work to give me a boost, but not to help me focus.) not a bpal blend, but I once saw a recipe for an essential oil combo called the fog cutter. it was cypress and grapefruit oils. I have added this combo to my oil burner set up and had an insane amount of success. there is a twilight alchemy lab combo called discipline that might work for you, although you can only find it in imps on the forum.

Aww, you said sisu! Hyvaa paivaa!

a world where there are octobers? nice maple woody sweetness?

there's a new one out with the Only Lover's Left Alive scents, there's water here, that many people loved. I loved the waters of the well of wisdom, an LE from the ragnarok line. also carp and octopus from this year's lupers.

everyone is different, and your needs might not be my needs. but for me, I like something light but good for energy. and I personally need regular protein to stay grounded. I would think sushi would be perfect. maybe bring nuts or trail mix to snack on.

giggle at the skeksis! I love skekna! since you'll be on your belly and can fold up your arms to huff at wrists, maybe a dab of oil there would work for you. wear what makes you feel calm and grounded of all of those scents. and eat protein first!! have fun

if you are going in for a couple of sittings, I would maybe say to wear nothing for the first one. or nothing for the consultation to get the feel of the shop. I acutally like the weird smell of tattoo parlours. the greensoap! the blood and the alcohol. but I would maybe lean towards nothing just cause you want your artist to be at his/her best so as to ink you fast and fine. or something super close to your skin maybe only behind the ears. or maybe a drop of an appropriate tal oil. what are your usual favorite scents and where are you getting your latest ink?

And now we have the gatekeeper! Has anyone tried this scent that could compare/ contrast it to other book scents?

I also love wearing the resins/ vanilla/ etc. everything Hellas suggested that I've tried I like a lot. highwayman is very floral on me, faeu b. was gentle aquatic violet. event horizon is delicious. Liz is on my wishlist... some of my favorite bpals that might be what you are looking for are skektet the scientist: Metal and stone and beams of dark light: hyssop, black currant, black viola, passionflower, and myrrh. butterflies flowers and jewels attending: white patchouli with provence rose, delicate freesia, pink tuberose, jasmine sambac, orange blossom, butterfly musk, vanilla orchid, and delicate spices and lady cecily sasquets: Rose-washed fur and a spray of bleeding hearts, China asters, and peony.

fresh from the post box, I get a light hit of lavender and then the cotton blossom comes out. I recognized this note from Tlazolteotl, where it was a clean counterpoint to the tar, copal, cacao, etc. here with no such deep notes to keep it in check, the cotton jumps out and screams over the other notes to a soapy/dryer sheet crescendo. but when I try this on again after a few weeks have passed, this has become a completely different experience. everything's come together now. it's transformed into a lovely floral, soft creamy lavender and bright vanilla at the core. the notes only stand apart when I'm trying to suss them out. otherwise everything's contributing to the delicious whole. each time I put this on, I fall in love again. it's more a heavy girlhood friendship crush than torrid love affair, but it's serious. currently a favorite in regular rotation.

beautiful beautiful beautiful. first applied, I get a sugar-crusted citrus. bright and sweet from the lime, a little puckery and juicy from the grapefruit. then the resins come out to play and the scent is warm and chewy and musky with a refreshing zip. the sweetness is still there, but it's more of a maple/brown sugar and now just at the edges. this is gorgeous.

this one surprised me. I thought with the listing of sewer moss it would be wet and filthy and murky. with the resins and cement listed, I thought it would be deep and rich. I was expecting something dark and demented but what actually emerged when I put this on my skin was a thoroughly clean and respectable cologne. completely decent, upstanding. I wanted a fairy tale sewer rat but instead this reminds me of what one would wear to the office in an old bbc show (comedy or drama, this would go either way and on male or female, but definitely in a fitted grey suit). very modest and restrained.

it is! it is! it is so very prettily boggy! so very strange and froggy!

scorchy, smoky, smoldering, syrupy, resiny goodness with a faint hint of fennel/ licorice. this is strong stuff. I'm glad to finally have a bottle in my hands. ligur is the darkest and sludgiest-smelling bpal I've yet encountered, pulled from the cinders of a campfire late at night. eta this stuff stays strong for hours and hours.