Arcy

I'd be more worried about the Hay absolute, to be honest. A lot of people are allergic.

Thank you! I'll add it to my wishlist! Raw Cacao, Chestnut, Honey & Patchouli went more like "Patchouli, Patchouli, Patchouli & The Tiniest Drop of the Other Three Notes" on me, so I was sad. Visions of Autumn III will cheer me up, I'm certain!

BPAL's Gardenia hasn't yet worked for me at all for various reasons, but Tíare (aka Tahitian or Hawaiian Gardenia) is lovely. It is also the predominant fragrance in good quality Monoï oils (detectable in the lighter-scented Post Hair Glosses for me). However, it seems to only be found in a very few Lab blends, mostly LEs. Another similar-to-me note is Hawaiian Ginger (Flower)/White Ginger. Pele, maybe? (I need to try it myself.) Lady of Shalott is all aquatic on me as I tend to amp water and air notes, sadly. Worth trying Tíare and White Ginger if your skin eats/hates Gardenia/Jasmine etc., IMO

Ryvre, how do you feel about mead? Litha 2006 is exceptional, in my opinion. Honey mead with honeysuckle, oak wood, ivy leaf, wild thyme, carnation, daisy, vervain, gum arabic, frankincense, yauhtli, and liquid copal. - maybe some scary notes, but if you love Womb Furie/Snake Oil/O, and happen to wear or amp honey well, it is a very good thing to try. Stone fruits generally turn into obnoxious cheap candles on me, so... that's all I've got. I need to crack a fresh bottle of Litha '06 and make sure it is still good, of course. I finished a bottle last year and it was, so fingers crossed.

celestia - a honey & floral blend that surprised me recently was Sed Non Satiata, even though it is super-GC I'd suggest trying it if you haven't and can. I also recently busted out Cottonmouth '08 and that morphed crazily on my skin, it went from a "raining in a flower garden" all the way to "flower garden in the summer sun" for me. The SO was not at all present anywhere but in the bottle! No suggestions for Sakura/Strawberry other than maybe the Post's Enveloped in Silk HG, which I just got and haven't tried (the strawberry note is very nice, from bottle sniffing!), and I'm still looking for a wearable yet pronounced musk myself. It may be that they get mostly eaten by my skin, but I'm not quite ready to call it quits on experimenting.

Rosagrimm, perhaps Alice The Reaper of Cruelty (no wood, but almost spot-on for other listed notes), Anteros, Bette Noir, Fae, Megaera, Desire, or Aperotos Eros (no fruit)? Some of those depending on if you find patchouli or moss to be acceptable and woody. Hopefully I've narrowed down your search!

If anyone is looking for something that smells like the LUSH Coconut/Vetiver blend, Death Adder. It is spot on for me. Think Trichomania, Coconut Deodorant powder, and I Should Coco. (May be worth noting I'm using a 2008 vintage Death Adder.)

I probably should have waited for it to settle, and maybe I'll come back and re-review in a week or two, but I got this from the Post's etsy storefront, it arrived today, and I promptly slathered my hair & the daughter's hair with it. (The only time that girl lets me comb her hair anymore is when I have something new & awesome to put in it.) Okay, the Monoï fragrance does drown out the fruit a bit, so it does have that Essence of Tiaré, and you will smell it, but otherwise it smells like the American/Chinese dish of Sweet & Sour sauce (usually served on stirfried protein). Just if the sauce was made with kechup made out of peaches instead of ketchup made out of tomatoes. I hope that makes sense to anybody! It does have a synthetic quality I can't quite place. Maybe deep fried rice noodles? It isn't quite plastic or cellophane, but reminds me of both. (I like it!)

Rosewood specifically? Libertine, maybe? Bergamot, orange flower, and neroli are definitely in the same "family" to me, but that one (and Croquet) may be too dark and not citrusy enough. Ho wood is also supposed to be somewhat similar to rosewood, if you're looking for that in particular. Citrus blends I've had good luck with staying citrusy when both aged and worn so far have been Carnal and I think Xiuhtecuhtli? But sultry qualities really work for me. Zephyr and Gobo may be worth a look if you're more interested in the sweet and light qualities of citrus. Even something like Lemon-Scented Sticky Bat would probably layer quite well. I've mostly tried to stick to GC or currently available BPAL blends, but I imagine some of the things in LEs or Discontinued may be worth a look. Atomic Luau Lounge may be a place to go? I'm not sure if it has changed over time, but the oceany/citrusy ones weren't too popular back in my day.

The Raven for Ravenclaw is a little too obvious and weird (their mascot is the Eagle, not the Raven) but it does have Iris in it. I like Sheol, for Iris and Lily, but there is no knowledge or wisdom there according to the description. Maybe something with Air or Wind in it? Snow White/2013 seems like a good contender. Sea of Glass is worth a look too, almost all of the tags remind me of Ravenclaw. Spiritual is iffy? I'd definitely be tempted to go full gourmand for Hufflepuffs, but going into the Garden makes more sense for them. Wheat for their house colors, soil for their earth affinity, stuff like that. Honey makes sense to me as well, their house colors being Black & Yellow. Doozers from Fraggle Rock actually seems perfect for a Hufflepuff. The scent of industrious cooperation: glittering crystals, soft soil, and radish dust. Gryffindors... is there any other scent than Fire Phoenix? (I don't much like this House.) If I were going with Snakes, I'd choose King Cobra for Slytherin. It is a very proud and dark snake. I think Water Snake would be too floral. Cottonmouths are a type of Water Moccasin, so that could be a more feminine spin on a Slytherin.

I didn't even think of trying to search for things from the Post, oh no! Infinite expansion of possibilities! Do you know how strongly the "honey" in that smells like Manuka, because I find that to be rather medicinal and unpleasant to smell, eat, and wear. (It is an excellent wound dressing.) I'm also not sure what aquilaria aguillocha is, Google is returning "aquilaria agallocha", which is Agarwood or Oud, I guess? Probably synthetic, since the tree is a protected species in many countries? Can't say I'm familiar with it, but I'll add Tricksy to ye olde wishlist, and go find a review thread. (Catalogued all my collected imps today, woo!) Thanks everyone for being so helpful, and do let me know if something else turns up. I haven't even considered LE Lab oils or Post blends at all yet.

This is BPAL. We love long, rambling stories as long as we get to sniff lovely things at the end, right? So, buckle in. (This isn't either too long or too rambling, but be forewarned that I do tend to trend towards both of those things.) About 8 years ago, my husband and daughter both tried to die on the same day - she swallowed a quarter which got stuck in her clavicle and that also needed to be surgically removed under full anesthesia, and his tonsillectomy scab fell off while we were in the Children's Hospital ER. Both of them were gushing blood from their noses and/or throats within mere hours of each other, and I'm a useless fainter in the presence of gore. Luckily, we were in a hospital and the surgeon who did husband's tonsillectomy was in residence. They both lived (yay!)... ... but I started having anxiety attacks the very next month due to a combination of preexisting mental instability and worsening physical health problems, which somehow combined with the PTSD from that day to give me agoraphobia (Monty Python and the Unenthusiastic yay). I overcompensated for some time after that by attempting to use perfume, makeup, and bath and body products as a sort of "shield" to give me confidence against the outside world. It backfired spectacularly, and those products actually ended up triggering more attacks just by using them as my brain eventually made the links from "using products" to "going outside" and finally to "melting down". I gradually stopped buying anything other than what I could use up quickly, my "holy grail" products (basically the ones that didn't cause attacks), and the occasional little present with scent notes I already knew that I liked here and there; birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, tax return splurges. I stopped frequenting the websites and forums related to those products to prevent impulse buys. I stopped hanging out with people I genuinely care for because I associated them with those products. (If you're one of my old BPAL friends, first of all, my most sincere apologies for shutting you out. I did it to everyone outside of the literally inescapable immediate family members. So, shoot me a message! I'd love to know how you're doing lately!) That's the long and boring tale of my hoard. I'm trying to reclaim my life recently, as much as I can. Little by little, day by day, let's make some progress together!

Wow, thanks! I'll be sure to look out for burning when I test Bengal, cinnamon or something similar has done that for me before (specifically in Arcana's Queen Crossbones) that aging doesn't seem to diminish. Thanks for the tip on the Snakes, aged O and Snake Oil are my all-time-GC-faves, of course. I actually own/owned the entire old Snake Pit but never got around to testing anything other than Boomslang (the story about why I own tons of aged BPAL that is unworn is so long and boring), which I've used up roughly 3/5ths of that bottle, pending this return. I also traded or sold away Green Tea Viper on the old LiveJournal community a while ago, so I've already stocked up on the 2016 replacements for both of those. The entire rest of the old Pit (minus Anaconda, which I have tested gently) are my top testing priority for next week because really, what better time if I fall in love?

Thanks, you two! I have an aged imp of Sed Non Satiata, tested it, and it is potentially bottle worthy! The thing is, I'm really, incredibly allergic to just about every plant closely related to geraniums. Geranium oil touching my skin is very not pretty unless you like skin to be the color of a freshly boiled lobster. I'm not sure if the Lab uses a synthetic for geraniums, or if it is a tiny amount, or if that oil just evaporated first, but SNS did not give me a reaction at all, so I'm kind of waffling on getting a fresh bottle. I don't have proper notes for Imp, which I tested last month, but I remember it being all gross Yankee Candle. I guess stone fruit may do that on me? Maybe only when paired with beeswax/wax? I tested an imp of Frumious Bandersnatch a million years ago and it did that as well. Forgot to mention that Sudha Segara is one of my all-time-faves as well, just bought a replacement bottle, though that's mostly sweet/spicy ginger beer on me. It is incredibly helpful for getting through anxiety attacks, so Spice/Honey rec's are welcome. Adding Aureus, The Coiled Serpent, Chimera, Inferno, Bengal, The Lights of Men's Lives, and Loved to Death to my wishlist! The one I'm going to make. After I write a list of all the frimps I still have to test!

There was an old Good Judy blend called "Honey Patch" that was absolutely lovely, and I've been looking for similar BPAL. I'm not expecting a 1:1 dupe or anything, just something that gives me the same wonderful feeling. So far, and surprisingly, Dragon's Milk has been closest thing I've tried, trading most of resin notes in for the kind of dirty hippie/earthy smelling patchouli, although I have a sneaking suspicion that Honey Patch did have an "amber" or other resinous note in it. I'm still testing my plethora of imps and am also currently awaiting a big order containing bottles and imps with those honey & patchouli (or similar) notes, but any recommendations for the future would be much appreciated. Really wishing that I had saved my empty to have a better current handle on it, but after leaving next to my bed for nearly a year to evaporate every last whiff every time I needed a pick-me-up, I threw it away. The description for Honey Patch archived on ScentBase reads as follows: In the wild, unadulterated lands of the free, grows the honey patchouli tree. Earthy, warm, and golden. Patchouli and two sweet golden honeys. Oh, and just to avoid duplicates rec's, my pending order contains: Bottles: Bright Red Dildo Dragon's Bone® Raw Cacao, Chestnut, Honey, and Patchouli Womb Furie Imps: Hetairae Kill-Devil Athens Tlazolteotl

If anyone is looking for something that's like Hope and Faith all at once (or at least how I imagine them to smell, since I have a bottle with supply issues in my order with the Twins... going to be waiting for a while to test those), Wanda had a very interesting drydown on me. She started as sweet white tea with rose petals and ended as a lovely, floral violet grounded by leather and wine. And since Wanda is GC, well! My testing notes say to watch out for headaches (the wine, for me) and that it had pretty decent throw.

If I recall correctly, Frankincense Essential Oil is pretty expensive if you want the real deal... right up there with my favorite Sandalwood... chances are good that you may have only had previous exposure to synthetic fragrance oils or heavily diluted amounts of essential oil which were then watered down even more when blended into a finished perfume or cologne, which may account for having a reaction when exposed to the real deal. (And, of course, there may be an unlisted oil in the vial that is the real culprit, who knows?) The bruises are worrying, though. I think you may want to go to a doctor and/or an allergist with that one. Haha, just found out that my skin does NOT like Saw-Scaled Viper '08. I've had tingling with cinnamon before, but it has left a large (easily 5x bigger than the area I applied it to) stinging red patch on my inner elbow. Pity, because it smells amazing. http://i.imgur.com/LW7fTXW.jpg

Hey, PersimmonSeeds! I'm allergic/sensitive to a lot of the exact same things you are (fragrance and blue dyes popular in laundry products) with very similar reactions, and I also have a known and very bad reaction to just about everything very closely related to geraniums, especially Geranium Oil. Found this out by working in a Garden Center and had it confirmed when my face lotion changed one ingredient without putting a "New Formula!" alert on the label. Guess what the ingredient they added was? Geranium Oil. It may be that you have a similar problem with an unlisted oil in Hope & Fear, but it may be worth doing a contact or patch test with another product containing oil from a member of the Boswellia genus, particularly frankincense if you can. Taking some Benadryl really helps keep me from scratching myself raw when I have an unexpected reaction, but it also makes me groggy/fall asleep, so I'm not sure if that's an option for you right now.

This is, for want of a better term, the "subtitle" for Lucy in Darkness Atmosphere Spray. http://www.bpal.org/topic/59982-holy-moly-its-an-update/ http://www.bpal.org/topic/60029-lucy-in-darkness-atmosphere-spray/ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenore_(ballad) may be relevant.

Litha 2006 : Honey mead with honeysuckle, oak wood, ivy leaf, wild thyme, carnation, daisy, vervain, gum arabic, frankincense, yauhtli, and liquid copal. In bottle : Honey mead with a trace of sweet incense like smoke. Wet, on skin : Absolutely one of the most gorgeous things I've ever had the pleasure of putting before my olfactory sense. There's no boozy, but it still smells like honey mead topped with flowers and greenery, with a campfire in the background. It is a very wood nymph sort of a scent, very golden for those that think in terms of scent “colors”. Dry down (15) : Drier smelling. A bit more woodsmoke. Still sweet, warm, golden honey with a tempered mature background. Love. Hour + : A perfect mixture of bitter and sweet that makes my tummy growl with hunger. Not even kidding. How do I always forget that “Litha is GOD, but it makes you eat everything in sight!”? Hour 3 : Still disgustingly perfect. I may at this point be accused of favoritism. (Review done while wearing Litha 2009 on my other arm, man the 2006 version kicks its buttocks!)

In bottle : Very much like a quiet forest clearing. Smell trees, shrubbery, damp greeness. There's a bit of a sweet floral overtone. This has really changed from when I first got it. It has only been 10 days, so it should be very interesting to see how it matures. Wet, on skin : Very, very mossy. I can seriously smell the frankincense also. Hint of fresh, sharp greenery. There's a bit of a tea-ness here, probably the chamomile. Honey? Honeysuckle? Where are you? Dry down (15) : Okay, the moss and frankincense are totally ruining this for me. The former isn't too strong, but it is a note that just doesn't work for me. The latter is trying REALLY hard to overpower everything else in this blend. However, it does smell sweeter and more balanced than before. Hour + : Finally mellowed out some, but still a very dark, cool scent. There is very little about this that is light or sweet. It is complex, but the frankincense is drowning out the rest of the notes. Hour 3 : Turned sweet and honey-ish! Yay. However, it is fading fast. Boo. Overall, not worth the purchase price. However, I'll be watching this one closely as it ages. If the frankincense note mellows it may be lovely. (This review was done while wearing the older Litha on my other arm...)

Imp : Sickly sweet, slightly green and medicinal. Skin, Wet : Nicely powderey green, hints of floral. Skin, Drydown : Going very dark, I think perhaps it is the opium. Kind of headache inducing. Still has a tinge of "band-aid"ness. Skin, Dry : More dark flowery and generally nice and pretty. But it just strikes the wrong chord with me.

Imp : Almond and perfume with a tinge of cherry sweetness to it. Skin, Wet : Mmm, cherry and almonds. Very yummy, still sweet and tart. Skin, Drydown : Less cherry, more woody and musky. Still fairly sweet. Mmm, the jasmine does start to come out and smells lovely. Skin, Dry : Red and jasmine? Lovely. I think it smells really damn sexy.

Imp : Herbs and musk, almost a limey scent. Skin, Wet : Wood, musk, and herbal. Kind of sweet. Skin, Drydown : Sweet and peppery, musky. Skin, Dry : Very much peppery and musky. I like it, but it smells kind of tree-ish. Might be better on a guy.

Imp : Cherry resin, musk. Skin, Wet : Sweet musk and resin. Really a pretty and unique scent. Skin, Drydown : Deeper musk with a trace of cherry sweetness. Skin, Dry : Gorgeous, floral musk with just a hint of that classic Dragon's Blood cherry scent still poking through. Extremely sexy.