bitterstar

Simple and straightforward: lovely, dry, soft leather. Leather driving gloves warmed in the sun. If you are seeking a vegetal, earthy leather, you want Ranger from the RPG series.

Truly luscious, especially on drydown. That soft lavender and patchouli are a match made in heaven. I also love the spicy quality of the saffron -- most notable about half an hour in. If you are familiar with Guerlain's Jicky, this has a similar effect when dry.

Waiting is beyond lovely. Lavender and mist. Adore. I do not get a strong sense of the asphalt note, although it's an interesting reference point for the scent. I think the light musk and oud ground Waiting in a sort of gray, concrete, urban way, but I don't smell asphalt, per se.

What a pleasure to smell neroli this way, light and unencumbered. This reminds me very much of Ginnivre, l'Artiste du Diable, and sure enough, there's a few overlapping notes (Ginnivre is hyson tea leaf, pale mint, sugar cane, orange blossom, lemongrass, and honey), but Full Moon is dryer, paler and a good deal less sweet. I will say I don't get a lot of ginger, which is a shame, but both the white tea and the neroli are prominent.

Cascading Blossoms reminds me of that part of your Hawaiian vacation where you realize you need a scent that you can take home and sniff every once in a while to remember your trip, so you go to a local bath and body type shop and start sniffing all the lotions and before you know it you are covered in heady tropical florals. Pretty much exactly like that. It is really pretty, both bright and luscious, and will be a hit with those who like heady tropical florals -- or who want a reminder of their trip to Hawaii.

Love's Philosophy with a whisper of dry, pale sandalwood smoke -- precisely what Love's Philosophy needed to keep from going too sweet. Lovely.

Elizabeth of Bohemia is who she says she is: an incomparably lovely rose oudh. I agree with those who have said it's a perfumer's rose as opposed to a garden rose, but I think that's down to the oudh, which imparts a woody sweetness. This is a black velvet cocktail dress sort of scent.

This is pretty amazing. Like roseus, I jumped on this because it's milk without honey and I am so very glad I did. It's a wonderful blend, homey and comforting, creamy and warm. The throw and longevity are both good; it's the perfume equivalent of snuggling. Giljagaur would also be incredible for layering, because it's fairly simple and doesn't morph. So if you have something that you want to soften with a little of BPAL's divine cream note, grab a bottle of Giljagaur.

Oh wow you guys inspired me to fool around with spreadsheets! The only real surprise for me was how many times "woods" (of various types) was listed as a predominant note in my favorite scent. I know I like woodsy, earthy scents but it came up a lot. Woods: 10 Rose: 9 Musk: 7 Saffron: 6 Orange blossom/neroli: 6 Vanilla: 5 Coconut: 4 Carnation: 4 Frankincense, Sandalwood, Bergamot, Honey and "Incense" showed up three times each.

Ooooh, Orphan Black. My picks! Sarah Manning: Sarah wears Mme. Moritarty - Red musk, vanilla bean, pomegranate, patchouli leaf and wild plum. Or maybe War - "Red ginger, black spices, patchouli, honeysuckle, and three blood-soaked red musks." Felix: I think Felix wears Peversion or Black Phoenix, Mrs. S.: Totally wears Sarah, The Mother Bear from Pretty Deadly - "Practical scents – warm, nurturing, wise, and strong: tonka bean, soft brown leather, myrrh, white sage, gurjum balsam, Ceylon cinnamon bark, red sandalwood, sweet tobacco, and a touch of gun smoke." Alison: I think Alison smells like lemon and vanilla, a little like baking cookies and a little like cleaning house. I propose Yellow Snowballs, but she would *hate* that name! Cosima: Rakshasa - Sandalwood with rose and patchouli. She would also totally rock Snake Oil. Helena: The Grave Pig - Fig, oakmoss, mushroom caps, and patchouli. Because you know Helena would wear mushroom perfume. Delphine: In my mind she smells like lavender soap. I'm not sure what the best BPAL match for that would be. I almost see perfume as being too frivolous for Delphine. Kira: Definitely something fresh and youthful, with apple. Maybe Salma from Paranorman? "Crisp linen, a smudge of ballpoint pen ink, soap-touched skin, apple shampoo, and effervescent science fair experiment residue." Cal (aka Daario Nahaaris from Game of Thrones): Rogue - "Soft, well-worn black leather, hemp, and rosin." (This would work perfectly for both Cal and Daario, to be honest.) Rachel: Whitechapel - "A gentlemen's blend, possessed of dignity, charm and refinement, but in truth masking a corrupted, hideous, soulless core. White musk, lime, lilac and citron." I can see Rachel doing a little gender bending with her fragrances. Or maybe Ultraviolet, which is so harsh and cold - "Lush violet and neroli spiked hard with eucalyptus and a sliver of mint." But while we're on Rachel, do you remember the last season finale when you see Rachel's immaculate ulna-modern bathroom and she has a shelf full of fancy perfume flacons? I was like "Please let me in Rachel I must smell all your smells."

I am compelled to weigh in, being a bit of an orange blossom fanatic -- some of my go-to commercial fragrances are Narciso Rodriguez For Her (orange blossom, peach, musk, vetiver), Hermes 24 Faubourg (orange blossom and amber, basically) and I'm not ashamed to say I love straight up Coppertone. Continuing the obsession, I also use Lush's exorbitantly expensive face cream Gorgeous because of the strong pure orange blossom fragrance . . . and Jo Malone's obscenely overpriced Orange Blossom body cream. It's an illness. (I wonder if this all began because I lost my virginity wearing Coco Mademoiselle (basically orange blossom, rose, bergamot and tonka.) ) Actually, I just think orange blossom is just a deservedly popular fragrance -- it's sexy but fresh, light but rich, sweet but not syrupy. This was addressed earlier but I wanted to confirm it: the difference between orange blossom and neroli is in their collection. Orange flower absolute (orange blossom) is extracted, neroli is a steam distillation. I couldn't tell the difference between the two until I moved to a house with an orange tree in the backyard -- orange blossom smells more like the actual tree in bloom, and neroli, to my nose, is more musky. But it all depends on how it's blended and what it's blended with, so as always with perfume, your mileage may vary. Anyway I have not tried all (or even most) of BPAL's orange blossom/neroli fragrances but I've tried a few so I wanted to do a little compare/contrast. My BPAL Holy Grail is Xiuhtecuhtli. I mention it because it's referenced earlier in the thread, but I would not place this in the orange blossom/neroli category firmly, just because there is so much going on that the sweet orange takes a backseat. It's a bright, warm, resiny masterpiece but I wouldn't offer it as an example of orange blossom. Catherine is a spa scent, very fresh and herbal with that nice orange blossom note. I find it extremely relaxing, actually, which is kind of funny given the namesake. It doesn't have great silage or longevity but it's lovely while it lasts. Tweedledee is a lot of fun but the kumquat stays quite strong on me, so it's a very sweet, fruity orange blossom. Jezebel is a great example of orange blossom at it's most luscious and rich. The honey brings out the natural sweetness of orange blossom. I think the sandalwood and the rose get totally trampled on in Jezebel, it's straight up orange blossom and honey. Lily (Pretty Deadly) is a lot of white florals and the neroli note is not a standout to me. Seraglio is very woody on me. The almond, clove and sandalwood come together in a warm, comforting way, and the floral notes (Bulgarian rose and neroli) are not as prominent. Vixen is a simple enough formulation that you can really smell the orange blossom, and on dry down it's almost an orange blossom single note (unless your skin does crazy things with patchouli and then all bets are off). It starts with bright ginger and then softens. Amazing silage and longevity and a little goes a long way. Masquerade is also orange blossom and patchouli but the patchouli is a lot more prominent (probably because it's paired with ambergris) and I find that the carnation emerges more than the orange blossom. Katharina and Pandy are rather similar, both orange blossom and apricot. Pandy is younger and more energetic, Katharina is more stately. But both are really pretty. Apricot is such a great foil for orange blossom -- it adds a little tart to keep orange blossom from being too heady. Caterpillar is a gorgeous floral incense blend but I can't pinpoint the neroli. Phantasm is a very light, airy neroli -- neroli is actually the base note in Phantasm so you understand how light we are talking. I think it's very pretty but it doesn't last a long time. I think the green tea and lemon verbena are a sparkly, ethereal complement to neroli. Edited to add Akuma! I forgot about Akuma, which is silly because Akuma is quite close to a neroli single note, especially when wet. It dries rather berry-ish (though still very pretty), but you really get a great jolt of pure neroli when you first apply.

Funnel of Love is dark, thick patchouli. And some other stuff, definitely pepper and spice, but mostly the meanest, grittiest, patchouliest patchouli ever. I don't think it is particularly wearable in any kind of a non-Burning Man-context, but it certainly is an evocative callback to the dizzying spiral of an opening scene of Only Lovers Left Alive.

Like Atrous, I've been having trouble honing in on any one note as Eve morphs and develops on my skin. There's too much, and it's too finely-blended. The result is gorgeous, nevertheless. It smells worldly, sophisticated and rich. It's one of those scents that perfumers from the luxury houses wish they designed, so they could drown it in alcohol and sell it for hundreds of dollars. In general, I would characterize Eve as incense and spice, with a little sweetness and a little powder.

The Diamond's Gong smells almost identical to LUSH Cosmetics' Champagne Snow Showers Shower Jelly; that is, a perfectly gorgeous, shimmery musk, both light and warm.