naeelah

I have the 2007 version, and haven't tried any previous years for comparison. I can definitely get a sense of the different sugars here. Overall, this has a pleasant crystalized sugar quality, as opposed to a syrupy, molasses-like quality. It smells like a nice blend of white and demerara sugars. The brown sugars are more predominant, but I wouldn't say there's anything like maple syrup here. (Reviews of previous years, saying that SS smelled like maple syrup, had me a little afraid. I was encouraged by will-call notes saying that this year's was more like white sugar.) For comparison: While this has some similarity to Anaconda, I don't think the sugar quality is the same. I didn't care much for Anaconda, because it was very thick, rich, fresh from the cane brown sugar. Lots of molasses. It was a bit heavy for me. Sugar Skull is crisper and lighter. The fruit note is a lot stronger than I expected. More than a light dusting, Sugar Skull has equal amounts sugar and thick, sweet purplish-red fruits. The fruit note doesn't strike me as anything in particular, so I'd say it's a nice blend. Not plum, not berries, just red and sweet. I think the fruit note fades as it wears, so after an hour or two, it recedes more into the background. I am AMAZED by how long this lasts! I have to reapply almost every scent after 4-5 hours. I put this on just before leaving for work (about 8:20 am) and when I got home (around 6pm) it was only JUST getting faint. It lasted all damn day. The throw is nothing to sneeze at, either. Nice and noticeable, but not overwhelming. If you're a fan of sweet scents, or the scent of rock or cane sugar, definitely pick this one up!

Thanks! I'm glad people find the list helpful! As for my personal favorites, I like Snake Oil but I'm not a devotee. It's good, but it seems to be missing something. So, I looked to the Snake Pit hoping that one of them would be what I wanted Snake Oil to be. Boomslang, for me, is the perfect Snake Oil. It's rich, dark cocoa starting out. The cocoa fades in an hour or so, so after that it's mostly plain Snake Oil, but it still has a darker, duskier quality. I will be hoarding Boomslang like I'm preparing for nuclear winter. I love half of the snakes, really, because the Snake Oil acts as such a good balancing point for a lot of scents that I don't normally love. Drier notes that don't always win me over -- such as leather or mint -- harmonize well with the richer, sweet, sultry Snake Oil. I'll be getting whole bottles of Habu, Western Damondback, Coral Snake, Temple Viper, and Green Tree Viper. Asp Viper is a very likely candidate for bottles, but I'm currently undecided on the almond. I'm also still deciding on Australian Copperhead. It's fabulous in theory, but on my skin, the Snake Oil component is so faint, and even the berry part is very light. So, at that rate, I'd do better to layer Baneberry and Snake Oil. (Mmm, I think I have a new lotion recipe!) The three that I don't care for are Death Adder (I loved the coconut, but vetiver gives me a headache), Saw-Scaled Viper (I like ginger or spicy notes, but all three together was too much for me), and King Cobra (it was suffocatingly musty and earthy). I'm just indifferent towards Banded Sea Snake and Cottonmouth.

Like others have said, it just depends on what you like. If you like your snake oil pure, probably nothing will replace it. But you might find you like some of the snakes just as well. Just think about what other notes you like a lot, and pick the snake that has that note. If you love, say, mint, and you also love Snake Oil, then you'll probably love Green Tree Viper. My decants of the snakes are beginning to turn with age (they're about 3 months old), so I've been testing them all again in the last week. So far, the fruity ones haven't shown as much development in age as the other ones. The others, though, are aging beautifully. If you like black musk and/or woods, try Habu. If you like leather (and want a cleaner, drier Snake Oil), try Western Diamondback. If you like orange (or apple), try Coral Snake. If you like mint, try Green Tree Viper. If you like the scent of rock sugar, try Temple Viper. If you like earthy scents or frankincense, try King Cobra. If you like cinnamon (earthy and dry), try Saw-Scaled Viper. If you like florals, try Cottonmouth. If you like almond, try Asp Viper. (To me, this one is the most similar to regular Snake Oil. It's just a little bit richer.) If you like dry, mossy scents, try Banded Sea Snake. If you like fresh, green, berry scents, try Australian Copperhead. (The Snake Oil part here is very light.) If you like coconut and/or vetiver, try Death Adder. (The vetiver here is strong, so avoid it if you hate vetiver.) If you like cocoa, try Boomslang.

I never thought I'd be a big fan of minty scents, and when I got a bottle of this for a decant circle, I figure it'd be one I could pass on without a second thought. WRONG! It turns out, I love mint, in some cases. I think that the reason I shy away from it is that it creates a very sharp, dry scent, and I don't generally wear scents like that. But when you pair it with snake oil, it's a delicious contrast of sharp and bright against rich and sultry. Snake Oil is very sultry, so it's great for summer, to me -- you already feel sticky and hot (at least, you do in the south), so why not put on a perfume that won't clash with that feeling? Add mint, and you can both join the heat and beat it at the same time. LOVE. Although there are green tea and bergamot in this, I never really pick them out. They just seem to support the mint and aid in the overall bright quality. The brightness never overpowers the snake oil, though. Of course, those are notes that evaporate very quickly. As my decant has aged, I haven't noticed a big change in the scent. Just the usual changes to the Snake Oil component. So, of course, the overall scent becomes a bit richer and creamier. The growing creaminess of snake oil's vanilla blends really well with the mint.

Wet, this smells exactly like lemon verbena, to me. Very lemony and a little bit green. The lemony-ness fades a bit as it dries, and it has a more rounded, fresh, clean scent. It's sparkling and vibrant, and amazingly, it avoids smelling like Lemon Pledge. And that's about it. It's fairly straight forward. It's a great scent for the concept. If you want a bright, clean scent, definitely give it a try. If you hate lemon, it will not appeal. Because the scent is so bright, the throw is relatively good. I didn't have it on long enough to test wear life, but IME, scents like this tend to evaporate pretty quickly, so I expect wear life is shorter than average. The scent is bright, but not strong, so you should be safe with frequently reapplying.

Although I love leafy scents, this sounded very light and ephemeral, which isn't my cup of tea. Still, I wanted to try a decant of this. In the imp, it's a very airy scent, like leaves and a hint of musk. I'd heard complaints that this is a bit cologney. I can see that, especially early in the dry down. When wet it has a peculiar, sharp quality. Once dry, though, this doesn't strike me as being masculine or like cheap men's cologne at all. Dry, it's very delicate, with light throw. It smells exactly like dry leaves and autumn wind, so it's wonderfully evocative. There's a faint sharp edge to it, like ozone. I don't get any sweetness from it, so no sap to be found for my nose. A few hours later, it smells exactly the same, and the throw is almost nonexistent. Wear life seems to be pretty good, but you'll probably want to slather it to make it noticeable. If you want a delicate and ephemeral dry, fallen leaf scent, then don't miss this. If you want something heavier or earthier, I recommend the Death of Autumn.

I wasn't sure whether I'd like this, based on past reviews, but recent reviews made it sound right up my alley. I seem to recall people saying it was one for champaca lovers. Based on that, I ran right out and ordered a bottle of this. I haven't tried past blends, but the 2007 one is very heavy on florals. Wet, it's largely floral with incense and cocoa, and a hint of sweetness. I don't know if it actually contains champaca, but the combined effect is very similar to champaca. In the medium stage, more of the foodiness comes out, on my skin, but it never becomes a foody scent. The longer you wear it, the smokier and more complex it gets. Towards the end, it's incense, tobacco, and a touch of sweetness and florals. This is very rich and complex, and no doubt it will be very different on everyone. On me, it's very similar to John Seward, but with cocoa and cake notes. John Seward is in my top 10, and I love anything chocolate, so this is made of WIN! I'm tempted to hoard it, in case DdlM is unable to return in the future, but this year's version is similar enough to some other scents I already have that I'll just wait and find out how next year's is different. Throw is very good -- noticeable but not too strong. Wear life is a little bit better than average, but it loses a lot of throw after 3-4 hours. I'm definitely glad I got this! This is one of my new favorites.

ZOMG this is amazing. I'm drawn to the idea, but realistically, I wasn't sure how much I'd wear a light, dusty scent. I just don't wear light, dry scents so much. I originally bought Miskatonic U hoping that it would smell like Barnes & Noble. I amp sweet, so the coffee aspect seems to overwhelm the paper notes of that scent. I got Lurid Library hoping I'd like it on its on, but intending to layer it with Miskatonic. In the bottle it's a bit dry and sharp with a touch of musk. It doesn't seem to morph a great deal throughout its wear life. It's dry, with a musty quality, and just a slight touch of musk. It's a dark musk, maybe similar to Brown Jenkins, but not at all oily or cologney. It mostly serves to add depth and anchor the scent. Wear life is average to good. Although the scent is light and not at all overbearing, the throw is surprisingly good. This really does smell EXACTLY like a library or used book store. It's fantastic. I'd definitely wear it on its own, and it turns out, it is PERFECT for layering with Miskatonic U! Together, it's rich, dry, papery goodness with a hint of sweet coffee.

Ordinar'ly, the aquatic scents be much afeared, seein' as I spend most o' my time at sea. Never bring yer work home, I say, 'n at work, thar be no point. What swayed me t' try it's th' promise o' lime, gunpowder, 'n snake oil. Aye, that be a winnin' combination. In th' bottle, The Phoenix smells o' sea air, 'n it be fair refreshin'. When first I put it on, I thought, bugger me standin', I'm going t' have to pour it off 'n throw it o'erboard, stowin' only th' bottle in me decks. It was naught but ozone 'n salt, it was. Thanks be to Calypso, that recedes right quickly. Th' sea air remains, o' course, but much softer, as more a backdrop. Turns out, mayhap I do like th' smell o' th' sea. When th' ozone clears, the lime comes on deck, with a touch o' sweetness that must be th' blood. Th' gunpowder n' snake oil stay below, ne'er callin' attention to themselves, but ye know they be thar. The wood, like our fair vessel, carries her party on smooth seas. This stage, when just dry, be a right beauty. Regre'ably, th' lime n' all else be only a clap on and they soon get carried out t' sea. Ere 2 hours've passed, we're back to naught b' the sea and the ship. N'ertheless, this be a treasure, even t' lubbers.

Search the thread for "Dublin" and ye shall find a number of recommendations. (Actually, many of the ones in this thread are for Dublin -> LE. There are a couple mentions in the Similarities among GC scents thread. That thread says GC and d/c, so I'd assume for the purposes of this forum, discontinued is being counted as GC. *shrug*)

I put this on expecting rich, sweet fruits, and so was very confused when what I smelled was NOT overwhelmingly fruity. I was very confused until I looked up the notes, and saw rose listed first. Ah, so that's what that was. So, wet, this is ROOOOSE BUUUD on me, with a wee bit of cherry. It's a rich, red rose, like the one in Mata Hari. Beth's black cherry note tends to be a bit dry and tart on my skin, which is great, but is not thick and juicy. I can pick out a hint of the other notes (plum, fig, honey). It remains much the same, with the rose overshadowing everything, for about an hour. Then, the rose fades away enough to let the other notes come out and play. Instead of having to look for them, they're right there in the open! Whew! The cherry is most prominent, but I have a hard time singling out the other notes. They all blend very well. Throw is about average and wear life is about average. So, while not entirely what I'd built up in my mind, this is a beautiful blend and I'm happy to have this addition to my rose collection. It will appeal to rose fans (especially fans of sweet blends) and definitely WON'T appeal to rose haters. If you're indifferent to rose and like sweet, fruity blends, give it a try.

A scent in which all possibilities exist at once! I thought this would be something I should order a whole 5ml of, and it turns out, I was right. This stuff is fantastic!! Wet it had a very strong, unpleasant mintiness, that I think was combining with the initial astringent quality of oakmoss, but that quickly calmed way down. Dry, I smell mostly light, sweet citrus fruits with a touch of mint and lavender just a hint of chocolate. The oakmoss doesn't stand out, to my nose. Everything in here blends pretty well. It seems to have pretty light throw, but I only put on a little. Wear life seems to be about average. After a couple of hours, when the citrus had all burned off, the oak moss became very pronounced. That wasn't as pleasant, because that's not what I want out of the scent, but it's interesting how it morphs. This will just be one to touch up every few hours. As others have said, this is a very whimsical scent. The overall effect is a bit like a fruity herbal mint tea. I think it will appeal to fans of other contradictory scents, such as croquet or tweedledee/dum. It's slightly sweet, so try it if you like sweet scents. Try it if you like mint scents. Try it if you like lavender scents. Try it if you like citrus scents. Pretty much, just try it. I think this one will be excellent for summer. I think this will appeal to fruity scent fans and light, crisp refreshing scent (such as Shanghai or Embalming Fluid) fans. Don't order this expecting it to be CHOCOLATE and some other stuff... because, for me, the chocolate definitely doesn't dominate the blend. If anything, it seems to serve as more of a base note.

The smell is strong, but not overwhelmingly so. (I like to have a strong scent in the shower, to scent the whole room.) I was expecting something sort of light, watery, a touch fruity, much like the scent of pumpkin guts. The bar has a strong nutty quality that I didn't expect, but it does smell quite like a slice of fresh pumpkin. Perhaps it smells more true to the scent of fresh pumpkin than what I had in mind! Either way, this is a fantastic scent, and I might have to buy another few bars before it sells out. The scent is strong enough to notice in the shower, and it leaves a very light trace on your skin. The soap itself has a lovely, creamy texture in your hand, perhaps from the clay. It makes a nice lather, and even with the clay in it, it leaves my skin feeling incredibly soft and moist. (Clay is supposed to absorb moisture, so it's not always great for dry skin.) I always have dry skin after showering, but not with this soap. And for me, it lasts forEVER. I cut a quarter of a bar. I don't store it on a special dish, I just set it on a little sample tub in a corner that is out of the way of the water. That quarter lasted me for about 2 weeks, possibly longer. I was using it for bathing AND shaving, so I really rubbed it on. Macha's soaps are surprisingly great for shaving!

This is really complex and utterly gorgeous. I definitely need a big bottle of this. I was a little frightened of the hay note, but my fear was totally unfounded. This smells like the lighter, golden, radiant cousin of Red Lantern. Initially, it's sweet and golden. I can definitely smell the champaca and jasmine, with tobacco and opium smoke. As it dries, after an hour or two, it's a bit drier and much smokier. The jasmine is less prominent but I can still smell the champaca. I can smell the sandalwood at the base, and for once, it hasn't taken over the blend. It's good to know that I can wear golden sandalwood! I can't quite pick out the peru balsam, leather, or ginger, but I'm sure they're there, somewhere. I think I can also catch a trace of the vanilla, but it blends with the sweet and smooth qualities of the floral notes. The tobacco seems to be less prominent now. Everything here blends really well, so it's hard to explain. It's really, really gorgeous - rich, golden and smoky. Fans of Red Lantern and similar scents will definitely want to try this. Throw is about average, and wear life seems to be about average. ETA: 1/21/08 I went through a phase of being iffy on this scent. I thought Defututa reminded me of it, so I put this old imp on the other arm to compare. It has REALLY changed with age -- but I think it has aged magnificently. Basically, the balance of the notes seems to have totally reversed - all of the stuff that I couldn't smell before I can smell now. Wet, there's a strong mint-like quality. As it dries, I can definitely smell the Peru Balsam. It's also quite smoky. Little by little, the champaca emerges, and some of the golden quality returns. I can pick out the tobacco. I think I can also pick out the sugared lily. The mint like quality is still there in the background. Totally dry, this is still a golden scent, but dark, smoky, and woody. It's much darker and more mysterious now. I love it!

I've been searching for the perfect "walking through the woods in autumn" scent for a long time. The scent of dead leaves and the vaguely spicy quality that comes with that. So I was really looking forward to this one. For the most part, it doesn't disappoint. It hasn't morphed much over the last two hours. Like many scents, it's a little sharp starting out but quickly mellows. The qualities of this are dead leaves, wood, spice, and vetiver. It's rich and organic without smelling dirty. It's light but it's not overly airy. The vetiver adds a slightly sharp quality, but it isn't strong enough to give me a headache (as it often does). I generally hate vetiver, and its presence does kind of ruin the scent for me (it's the ONLY down side) but I will say, the vetiver (khus) here is way better than any other vetiver I've ever smelled in BPAL. Apparently, Khus is a rarer and smoother type of vetiver. This is a more subtle vetiver, and it lacks the burnt grass quality I get from vetiver in other blends. I look forward to seeing how this ages, because iirc, vetiver is a note that's supposed to age well. So, this does smell like you'd expect -- dead leaves. If I look for the individual notes I can pick them out, but they all blend really well. Nothing jumps out at me at all. The overall effect is walking through the woods in fall. Bravo! Throw is a little light, and wear life seems to be average to shorter than average. -- I was so looking forward to seeing how this ages. The leafy, decayed quality has become even richer and better. Instead of a walk through the woods, it's like diving into a pile of leaves. The khus was pretty agreeable when the scent was young, and I really hoped it would become smoother with time. I guess it has. Because now, instead of smelling sharp, it smells like fucking BARBECUE. Ugh. I'll try it another few times, but it looks like it has become completely unwearable for me. I can only hope the retail only Autumn will fare better for me.

I'm SO glad i heeded will call reviews and ordered a last minute bottle of this! I was afraid of how the wine note would work on me (it tends to be a bit syrupy), but I can barely detect it in this blend. It's not much of a morpher, but it seems like everyone amps something different. The main note is a rich, dark musk, a lot like the musk in Brown Jenkins. Blending with it is a lovely, slightly woody dead leaf scent. I can't pick out a specific smoky quality, so I think that just contributes to the autumn notes of the blend, rather than smelling like a bonfire. I can smell the wine note right at first, and it has a fruity, plummy effect in the blend, but it seems to fade as it dries. From a distance, I can catch a whiff of it in the blend, it just isn't as strong as it was starting out. After a couple of hours, it's mostly musk and dead leaves, with a touch of berry or plum (the wine note). Really gorgeous! Throw is very good. A dab from the rim of the bottle on one hand was noticeable. And it lasts FOREVER. I put it on first thing this morning. Now, about 8 hours later, it is still going strong. That was by tipping the bottle directly onto my wrist. If I just dab from the rim, then the wear life is a little more average, about 4-5 hours.

Wet, this definitely has a butterscotch-like quality. As it dries, the coffee notes come out, and then it smells EXACTLY like irish creme coffee beans! It's sweet, boozy cream and coffee! Underneath it all there's a slight dry note and definitely a polished wood quality. I actually kind of wish the paper and dust notes in this were stronger, but it's quite nice as is. The throw is good, and it lasts a good, long time. After like 6 hours it was still pretty noticeable. Definitely recommended to fans of sweet foody scents.

I got to try this on over the weekend, and it seemed completely different from when I tried it on at Convergence. Clearly my skin or nose, or both, go insane when I'm out of town, because perfumes I sniff and buy when on vacation always end up smelling drastically different later. I don't remember what it was like back in May, but last weekend it reminded me very, very strongly of Sacred Whore of Babylon. So close was the resemblance that I breathed a sigh of relief and thought, here's one less LE I'll have to track down if I fall in love. I'm not wearing it presently, so I can't review it in depth, but it was quite heavy on gardenia and other florals. There was definitely some rose present. It seemed to be a light and creamy rose, but perhaps that was just the effect of the blend as a whole. The floral bouquet was really lovely and smooth. Gardenia was most prominent, but everything blended nicely, in good balance. There may have been a tiny drop of vanilla in the mix. Behind it all was a bed of red musk, which was noticeable but not as sharp and untamed as in Sacred Whore. Perhaps it's an issue of age, but it seemed like Unheavenly City had less musk in the blend. If you're a fan of Sacred Whore or similar floral red musk scents, give this one a try, if you won't mind falling in love! I have to say I preferred this to Sacred Whore, because the floral bouquet was better balanced -- but I like SW well enough that I'm content to keep her.

I got to try Unheavenly City on again over the weekend, and I realized that, on me, it smells almost exactly like Sacred Whore of Babylon. The main difference, for me, was that Unheavenly City had more rose and was less heavy on red musk. But red musk seems to calm down with age, so I suspect that older Sacred Whore would have an even closer resemblance.

I don't know the chocolate in question, but it doesn't seem like there's anything in the GC that's similar. There are no chocolate coconut scents, so you will probably need to layer. The advice I can offer is to experiment with different combinations and hope something smells close! Bliss -- a pure milk chocolate scent that's excellent for layering. (For dark chocolate, try The Candy Butcher.) Gluttony -- has no coconut, but it is definitely veeerrry sweet and warm. There's a hint of chocolate with praline, toffee, sugary icing... I find it to be very fuzzy and comforting. Brown Jenkins -- a very fuzzy coconut scent with musk. Layered with Bliss, perhaps it would be similar? The musk stops this one from being purely foody, BUT, on my skin, the musk faded after an hour or so, so it mostly smelled like coconut and wood. Boomslang - this is snake oil with cocoa. The texture is quite velvety. I think it would be lovely with a hint of coconut, although it's probably not as food-like as you're looking for. The closest thing to pure coconut is probably Obatala (which is milk, coconut, shea butter, and water). I haven't smelled Eden, but it contains a lot of fig along with almond milk, so I imagine it will have a very smooth, sweet, velvety scent. Perhaps it would be nice when layered with Bliss.

Before looking at the notes, this scent gives me the impression of brown sugar cinnamon toast with musk. Looking at the actual notes, that sort of makes sense. The coconut is definitely a bit husky, in that it's a lot closer to the scent of a freshly cracked open coconut than the typical, sugary, refined kind of coconut scent of many lesser fragrances. It has a nice, fresh sweetness and the slightest suggestion of spice (probably from the incense). The sandalwood gives it a nice smooth base, and the orris adds a really lovely powdery quality that, luckily, did not turn to baby powder! The musk is a nice, dark musk that's not too heavy. (There's no oiliness, and it's not as heavy as black musk.) I think it blends beautifully, and it prevents the blend from being overly foody. This is definitely a smooth, fuzzy, cuddly sort of scent, made slightly feral by the musk. It strikes me as being very unisex, and while it isn't necessarily foody, you'll probably want to avoid it if you don't like sweet scents. The throw is excellent, but after about 2 hours it has softened considerably. The musk, especially, has faded. There's just fuzzy, softly woody coconut wafting at me.

Although it doesn't contain any fruit, you might try Hermia. It's a floral with a touch of pepper, but the florals are very sweet and fruity in character. However, since there is no actual fruit in it, the sweetness is subtle. Also, if you like slightly smoky, incensey scents, try the Witch Queen. It's quite similar to Morgause, but a little heavier on the fruit and smoke. Morgause, on my skin, is predominately floral. I think the Witch Queen is a little sweeter.

This seems familiar somehow, but it's unique among the BPAL berry scents. It's not a traditional sweet, red, fruity berry scent. The predominant quality is a light, fresh, and green. It's a leaf, almost herbal green, not like grass. There's something almost aquatic. Underneath it all is a slightly bitter and tart note, like an under-ripe berry or grape on the vine. Once dry, a sweeter berry note begins to emerge, like the one ripe berry in a cluster of green ones. It never overwhelms the greenness, but it does provide balance. After another 15 minutes or so, the whole thing becomes darker. And as the berry note continues to ripen, a very bitter herbal note emerges out of the greenery. I love the balance in this! It's definitely a morpher, and the final scent has way more berry than the fresh, wet scent does, but it never gets out of balance. I'd definitely recommend it if you like fresh, cool, leafy/herbal green scents, or want a berry scent that's a break from the usual. Throw is very light, but seems to become stronger. Not sure yet about wear life.

This one is very straight-forward. It's dragon's blood, in all it's semi-fruity sweet glory, combined with light aquatics. It really does smell like fresh water -- imagine being in a swimming pool (one that isn't chemical laden). I don't get a salty quality from it, so much. It's a really nice combination, actually. The aquatics lighten up the dragon's blood and keep it from being overly syrupy or cloying. Once dry, it's basically a light, airy aquatic scent with a touch of sweetness. Really lovely if you dig light, fresh scents. Throw is surprisingly good. Not sure yet about wear life, but dragon's blood typically lasts a very long time in my skin.

I can't help you with a similar scent, but just so you know, there's a thread about bpals that resemble other perfumes here. It has lots and lots of pages, so I'd use the search function to see if love spell has come up in that thread before. Also, since you know the particular notes in love spell, that makes it a lot easier to hunt down similar bpal blends. You can search the BPAL catalog itself for those notes. I know there are several scents that contain cherry blossom, so you might have some luck. I don't know if any of them have peach, but you could layer a scent such as Fae (which is peachy, iirc). If you see some scents that look like they might be similar, check out the forum reviews. They'll help you get a better idea of how the scents smell when you wear them.