DiesMali

In the imp: LEMON.

Wet on my skin: LEMON CANDY.

Dry: LEMON CANDY and a tiny bit of green citrus peel. It's very sharp, slightly-sweet, lemon drop candy. Pretty much just that through the whole wearing, though a bit of the white musk does start to peek out after a long while. It'd be great for someone who likes lemon/citrus scents, but it's a bit too much citrus for my taste as a perfume. I bet it'd be great in a bath, though!

In the imp: Sharp, slightly sour tobacco.

Wet on my skin: Sharp, slightly sour tobacco and LAVENDER.

Dry: This is a lot better dry than when wet, but not quite doing it for me. I normally get along with most of the notes in this, but there's something in it (probably the labdanum and something combining with it) that makes it sour/bitter close to my skin. The throw, however, is an absolutely gorgeous combination of lavender, sandalwood, and tobacco. I really wish it wasn't so weird closer to the skin, because the stuff floating around me in the air really is nice.

I never knew I loved dirt scents so much until I got some frimps of Zombi and Death Cap. I do not know if I need bottles of both of them but if I cannot decide which one I like more, I might have to. Are there more scents, preferably GC, that have the same vibe as Zombi and Death Cap?

My all-time favourite mushroomy dirt scent is The Grave-Pig (Fig, oakmoss, mushroom caps, and patchouli). If you like Death Cap, you'll likely like The Grave-Pig as well! The patchouli in is very dirt-like, enhanced further by the other notes, and it's one of my go-to dirty hippie type scents. It's richer and a bit more loamy/moist than Death Cap, and less rosey than Zombi.

When (or if) it comes back in stock, or if you can find an imp or bottle for swap/sale on the forum, get thee some Hagsgate!

Hagsgate - An accursed bounty: rich black soil and hay, cucumber, tomato, red lettuce, summer squash, black eggplant, arugula, grape vine, artichoke, and a tangle of herbs marred by an undercurrent of vetiver, patchouli, and black moss.

Hello! I've found a few scents that might fit what you're looking for. Two are LE and out of stock, so you'll have to hunt for them, and one is GC. All three of these are primarily evergreen with bright golden sunshafts filtering through the trees. Of the three, Dark Rosaleen and Dawn: Cernunnos seem closest to what you're looking for.

LE:

Metis - Clary sage, oakmoss, white pine, and terebinth.

Dark Rosaleen - golden frankincense gilding pine pitch, sun-touched amber, and oakmoss resinoid.

GC:

Dawn: Cernunnos - Terebinth pine, basil, green sandalwood, fig leaf, armoise, lemon balm, cypress, myrrh, black cedar, and juniper.

There are some other piney/earthy scents that aren't quiiite foresty, but might also be worth checking out! Here are a few I enjoy for their earthy/woodsy/pine qualities:

Golden Priapus (GC) – Vanilla and amber with juniper, rosewood, and white pine. (this smells like sweet ponderosa pine bark and sap on me)

Midnight Carnival (GC) - galbanum, teak, myrrh, narcissus, patchouli, cacao, labdanum, agarwood, lavender, neroli, and black moss. (this one smells like a magical bonfire in the woods, on me)

Oberon (GC) - Orchid, white musk, and bergamot wafting over juniper berries, with a gentle touch of soft, earthy patchouli. (this is my second-favourite forest dirt scent, with lots of juniper and some orchid over the dirt)

The Grave-Pig (GC) - Fig, oakmoss, mushroom caps, and patchouli. (this is my go-to forest dirt/loam scent, smells like a bed of damp pine needles and soil with mushrooms sprouting from it)

Invitation (LE, currently up in Lupercalia '16) – White juniper, Italian cypress, and yew bush brushed by a veil of white rose, oudh, armoise, lavender, and vanilla sandalwood. (this one is currently more flowery/aquatic on me, but expect it to go much more foresty as it ages)

In the bottle: Rich, cake-y vanilla.

Wet on my skin: A very even blend of vanilla, saffron, and cream - exactly in the order given in the notes.

Dry: The saffron in this fades fairly quickly, leaving a rich, foodie, and almost cake-like vanilla and cream with just a hint of the saffron in the background. It smells like I've dipped my wrist into a bowl of thick vanilla buttercream cake icing! It threatens to verge on plasticky at times, but seems to be reined in by that hint of saffron. I'm hoping aging will bring the saffron more prominently into the blend, but as it is, this is definitely a gourmand scent I can reach for when I'm in a mood for something richer and sweeter than my usual fare.

In the bottle: Honeyed vanilla.

Wet on my skin: Oh. Ohhhhhh. Magnolia! It smells exactly like a freshly bloomed magnolia flower! YES! And some musky honey and vanilla, but mostly magnolia!

Dry: I am generally not one for white florals, and honey is hit or miss on my skin, but something in this (the magnolia) just called to me and I had to have it. It's true to life magnolia, like the huge white blooms they get down in the deep South, backed up by musky sweetness from the honey and vanilla. It's a bit 'antique' smelling, if that makes sense, and just very beautiful. White upon white upon white, but not too perfumey, nor soapy. Lovely, feminine, and I think it has sort of a velvety feel to it. Unlike anything else I have, which is good!

In the bottle: Sharp, slightly sour and unpleasant rosey incense.

Wet on my skin: SAAAAAAAAAAAFFRON. HI. I'M SAFFRON. SAFFROOOOON. After the saffron has finished loudly announcing itself, it's joined by its buddies sandalwood incense and carnation. And then vanilla! Beautiful.

Dry: This is a very beautiful, Oriental-feeling blend, and I adore it already. The vanilla saffron, sandalwood, and carnation are prominent for the first hour or so of this scent, making it a spicy, warm incense blend. After a bit, the spiciness tones down and sweet rose and myrrh come in more fully. At this point, it softens into a soft, powdered rose-carnation incense, though never goes into baby powder territory. This is such a beautiful blend, and not at all similar to Love's Philosophy despite the similarity in notes. It starts out strongly gold and rose in colour, then fades more to a soft rose with light golden touches here and there. Sexy, but in a light and feminine manner rather than dark and vampy.

In the bottle: Oof, not pleasant. Burnt and foul-smelling.

Wet on my skin: Something about this combination of ingredients starts out smelling almost nut-like on my skin. Not pleasant at this stage, but not as foul as in the bottle.

Dry: This smooths out a bit after about ten minutes, and it's now fruity black leather with just a hint of brown sugar. I'm not getting any cognac, pepper, or vetiver yet. I do believe I'm going to let this bottle sit for a week or two and then re-test it, because I had high hopes for this and I want it to work. Right now it's a bit discordant and smells a lot like dried prunes. I like prunes, but I'm not sure I want to smell like them.

In the bottle: Musky lemon.

Wet on my skin: This goes on with an initial whiff of lemon, which immediately fades and makes way for a cool, blue floral.

Dry: I'll admit now, I had no idea what wisteria blossoms smell like, but now I know! And I like them!!! This is indeed a night scent - cool, dewy, softly-musky, and blue, with just a touch of lemony incense. Like being outside in the late spring, after a heavy rain has ended, with candles lighting the scene through a window from inside the house. This is unlike anything else I have, which is exactly what I was hoping for! It's soft and feminine, and will be an excellent scent to wear through the springtime.

In the bottle: Rich, smoky, dark chocolate.

Wet on my skin: Dark, dark chocolate and smoke. Really, really, really nice smoke. Unf.

Dry: I don't smoke, but this is what I imagine it's like to smoke a real, hand-rolled Cuban cigar while eating the richest dark chocolate from the highest-end chocolatier in France. Dark, smooth, smoky, and oh my goodness it's good. The tobacco and vetiver combine to make up the body of this scent, sweetened up just slightly by the chocolate - but the tobacco is almost sweeter than this chocolate. I'm having trouble finding words for this right now because my eyes want to roll up into the back of my head every time I catch a whiff of myself. SO GOOD.

In the bottle: Rich, spicy pumpkin and beeswax!

Wet on my skin: Instantly, I'm struck by the GOLDEN feel of this scent. This is the most GOLDEN blend I've found from BPAL so far - but it's not pale gold. No, this is rich, autumnal gold with flickering candle light. PUMPKIN and beeswax with a bit of honey, tobacco smoke, and a bit of booze in the background.

Dry: Instant love. This is one of the strongest scent-colour associations (synaesthesia) I have had so far, and it's just gorgeous in both my nostrils and my brain. This could be a Weenie by how autumnal and golden it is! Pumpkin and beeswax forward, with tobacco smoke and beery hops, and just a touch of golden dust from the hay. The pumpkin-beeswax goes a little creamy, and reminds me of The Witches, but this is much fuller-bodied and spicier. Amazing, gorgeous scent. Loooove. This scent is evocative of flickering, golden-orange candlelight.

In the bottle: Juniper berries and sweet yew.

Wet on my skin: The same as in the bottle.

Dry: This is a cool, pale green, almost aquatic feeling scent. I'm actually a bit perplexed, as the ingredients are pretty foresty-floral, but I'm mostly getting cool, clean, almost-soapy herbal aquatic. It's actually quite lovely, despite being a bit more floral than I was expecting, but I'm still hoping that some aging will draw out the greenery a bit more. The juniper in this smells like plump, juicy juniper berries rather than the green branches, and beneath that, the rose, sweet yew needles/leaves, and soft lavender are most prominent. The vanilla and white rose are indeed a veil, cooling the feel of the whole thing and taking it from foresty green to pale, misty aqua in colour.

In the bottle: Musky vegetation, almost smells a bit 'off'. Like a pile of rotting leaves or something.

Wet on my skin: Strong blast of red rose, followed by slightly-powdery musk. Thankfully, the rotting leaves don't stick around on my skin.

Dry: This is a heady, sexy, musky rose on me. It's slightly reminiscent of Black Rose, but richer and actually even darker. Red rose and indigo musk are prominent on my skin, with the tobacco and opoponax backing them up and making them both smokier and darker. It's a deep, deep red with dark grey, almost black smoke charring the edges of the rose petals. Absolutely gorgeous on my skin, and I'm SO glad to have found another indigo musk love - it's the best musk on my skin, but so few blends have it! This will definitely join my "I'm going out and want to smell as sexy as I feel" collection of BPAL bottles.

Necrobump!

 

 

I've recently fallen madly in love with red musk. Currently my favourite is Now Winter Nights Enlarge - I love the combo with caramel and honey. I think I like sweeter blends containing red musk. I have Mme. Moriarty as well, but she's mostly currant and patch on me.

 

I am trying to track down The Elephantine Colossus, because it sounds like exactly everything I love.

 

Any other recent recs for me? I've tried most of the GC blends with red musk, though Hollywood Babylon is still on my list. Love Snake Oil, but it's not musk heavy on me.

 

If anyone has any LE recs from the past few years that may still be possible to track down, I'd be grateful!

La Femme de Satan is definitely one of the best red musk blends released lately! If you can track down a bottle of that (shouldn't be too hard since it was just this past Halloweenie release), I hiiighly recommend it.

I'd like to add that my recently-enabled friend just got her first order in, and one of the imp caps in that order sheared off like the rest as described here.

In the bottle - Oh holy cr...what IS this?

Wet on my skin - This is vile.

Dry - Still vile. I bought this from a forumite about 8 months back, before I knew how awful violet and salty aquatics tend to be on my skin. It was awful, so I waited to review it to see if it got better after re-settling from shipping, but no. It's 5 years old and has aged to "perfection," and it is still disgusting. Not even the tobacco can save this. It smells like Cthulhu's dirty bathwater, complete with mildewed tile. Not good on me. I think I will be re-selling this bottle to someone whose skin won't turn it into Eau De Port-A-Potty.

On me, at least, Lamia's smoky/nutty (coconut and vetiver) and fruit (black currant and white peach) notes combine and end up making me smell like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for about the first hour of wear. My significant other confirms this, and that it isn't just my nose reading something wrong.

I don't know HOW I haven't reviewed this yet, because I've had this bottle for a while and it's one of my absolute favourites.

In the bottle: Cigar tobacco and rose.

Wet on my skin: Smoky, resinous rose. Deep, rich, enticing, and just gorgeous even at this stage.

Dry: This is one of my all-time favourite BPAL scents, and definitely my favourite GC rose blend. This is a blend of a bunch of my favourite notes, and it works absolutely gloriously on my skin, combining to make a rich, sexy, smoky rose-resin blend with wisps of vanilla sweetening it. The rose is unmistakably sweet, white rose, not the deep red or even juicy pink used in other BPAL perfumes. The tobacco in this is the other primary standout note, and it's the sweet, smoky cigar tobacco that so many of us resin/incense lovers rave about. This entire scent is so well-blended and beautifully harmonious on my skin that I hardly even want to pick the notes apart, even though I can sense them all in there and I know they're all playing their part in making this scent so intoxicatingly gorgeous on me. Beautiful. Just...the best. Unnngh.

I just had that happen in my last order! I thought it was just a fluke, but maybe not. The cap on one of my imps sheared almost cleanly a millimeter or two above the top of the glass when I tried to open it. I had to turn it into a room spray after I tested it because I didn't have any other way to store it or move it to a new bottle. :/

In the bottle: Warm, creamy, syrupy.

Wet on my skin: ...waffles? What?

Dry: I swear on a stack of various holy books, this ends up smelling like warm, buttery buttermilk-batter Belgian waffles with maple/butter-pecan syrup. There's hardly any rose on my skin, but it's all buttery golden-brown and very, very foodie on me. I smell like waffles. Or maybe pancakes, though not quite as sweet as American pancakes tend to be. And there's definitely a bit of spice, like a sprinkle of nutmeg or something on top of all the butter and golden-brown fried batter.

OH. OH. I KNOW. FUNNEL CAKE. The base in this smells like funnel cake, but with butter and syrup. This is really making me hungry. For waffles, or funnel cake. BRB going to IHOP.

In the bottle: Heady, juicy wine and a little rose.

Wet on my skin: For just a minute, this smells like jelly on my skin, but THEN...omg. As it settles into my skin, it blooms into this gorgeous, rich, heady wine-rose-incense.

Dry: This is a perfect scent. Just absolutely perfect, at least if you like wine and roses. I was hoping this wouldn't be too similar to my other wine blends, but I HAD to get it because I knew these notes would be to die for. I WAS RIGHT. This is an incredibly well-blended scent that dries down to dark rose-wine and juicy black poppy, with myrrh glittering about on the edges of each sniff. I can pick out a light, velvety sort of patchouli if I inhale deeply. This is a black and burgundy scent, but not heavy and thick like velvet. No, this is black and burgundy silk, exquisitely smooth and light, yet somehow still warm and luxurious.

Temple incense! Yes, this is like temple incense. And wine, and flowers. Unghhh. I might require a backup of this.

In the bottle: Woodsy cocoa.

Wet on my skin: Thick, smoky, rich DARK chocolate.

Dry: If you like dark, dark chocolate and smoky vetiver, this is a blend for you. This is like 70%+ cacao, bitter and almost a little dusty, with the vetiver and other notes coming in to making it this a rich, thick, boozy-smoky dark chocolate blend. This isn't really a foodie chocolate at all, nor is it perfumey. This is NOT a sweet bonbon at all, at least on my skin. It is...just really, really unique. I have nothing else like this in my BPAL collection. This is about as dark and masculine as chocolate ever gets, but if it's too dark for ladies who order it, don't be afraid to slather a male S.O./relative in it if it ends up not being your thing!

After it's been on a while, the cocoa starts to fade into the background, leaving a smoothly smoky vanilla-vetiver-benzoin behind, with the champaca and vanilla continuing to make everything a little boozy to my nose.

This is a bottle of the 2015 Liaison, purchased last year. It was nice, but not WOW, when I first tried it, so I stuck it in a box and aged it 10 months.

In the bottle: Mostly honey and clove.

Wet on my skin: Thick, dark, powdery musk with waxy honey, clove, a hint of tea, and something floral. It's absolutely gorgeous at this stage.

Dry: This just just drop-dead gorgeous on me after aging since last Lupercalia. The thick, dark musk subsides a bit and blends in with that waxy pollen-filled honey and clove, and the tea and jonquil come out now. Surprisingly, the frankincense and sandalwood take a back seat for the first hour or so of wear, providing just a hint of glittering incense in the background of the other sweetly-musky notes. After an hour, the frankincense does come out a little bit more, but the primary notes on my skin remain sweet, dark, musky/pollen-y honeycomb, tea, clove, and jonquil for the full duration of the scent. It lasts a LONG time on my oil-sucking skin, in excess of 6 hours, and it's so lovely now that I think I'll likely need to track down a backup bottle.

In the imp: Sweet, ambery lotus.

Wet on my skin: This is mostly amber, lotus, and saffron when wet. It's really lovely at this stage!

Dry: Soft, warm, golden, and a little spicy. This is a beautiful scent, soft and a bit understated, and there's something a bit honey-like about it on my skin. The primary notes on my skin are amber, lotus, myrrh, and saffron, in that order. The musk, cardamom, and almond give it a sweet, fuzzy softness, and I swear this scent's colour (in my mind) looks like the fur of an Abyssinian cat. It doesn't have a whole lot of throw once dry, but is still beautiful close to the skin. I suspect it'd have a lot more throw if slathered, but it might be overpoweringly sweet if I did that. May have to test that theory. Either way, this is actually a very pretty scent, and one of my favourites of the GCs I have tried as of late.