sheelanagig

Just jumping right in here, about to make my first order. For the past five years or so, I've worn no other perfume but Anna Sui Classic. I've been reading tons and tons of reviews for scents, and there are a few I think might be similar, but I just want to get someone else's opinion first. Here is the description I found for the composition of Anna Sui: "A floral fragrance built around Bulgarian rose with topnotes of bergamot, raspberry and apricot, a heart of rose, water lily and jasmine, and a base of cedarwood, sandalwood and powdery tonka bean." Any suggestions will be greatly greatly appreciated!!

I had meant to include Jack in every single order I've placed since discovering the Lab, but I somehow managed to forget every time... But now he's here, and he's delicious. When I first opened the vial, I was a bit nervous as all I could smell was whatever note went rancid on me in Samhain. After drydown, however, it becomes a wonderfully rich and spicy TRUE pumpkin scent. I love it!

I can't believe I haven't reviewed this yet, as Kali is officially my all-time-favorite BPAL. (I have a 10 mL on order) This is such a complex blend that it's really quite difficult for me to pick out any individual notes. What I smell most strongly is the wine, honey, and lotus. If I give the imp a good rolling, I can smell the rich chocolate, but only if. Overall, Kali is a very sweet, comforting scent on me.

Heeeeellllooo Apricot! I loved the apricot in March Hare so much, but the clove made it unbearable for me to wear. Katharina is the answer to my apricot prayers. It IS young and girly... not something I can wear everyday, but perfect for bright, sunny, happy days and running around outside.

To me, this is the most gingerbready of gingerbread scents. It's beautiful, cozy, and comforting. Too bad I haven't any cannibalistic tendencies... After sniffing (hording, really) the bottle, my husband had this to say, "OH MY GOD.... how do they DO that?!!!! I swear, it smells squishy , like real, warm, melt-in-your-mouth gingerbread!" So there you have it. It's beautiful, cozy, comforting, spicy, warm and SQUISHY.

Bon Vivant is, for lack of a better word, AMAZING. It bubbles in your nose like champagne would, and the strawberry is sooo true. Not in the least bit artificial. This is such a happy fragrance. An absolute mood lifter. I can't wear this all the time, but it is sooooooo wonderful!!

To my nose, Dublin smells like grass and clover. Might be worth looking into.

In the vial- sweet, round, a little spicy. Is it fruity? Is it floral? Oh yeah, it's both. I can't wait to put this on. wet- carnation. me likey. soft and sweet with a peppery kick. drydown- Sophisticated and warm. Just a little sexy. It's playful and seductive, and not in the least overpowering. wearing- this blend does stay very close to the skin. it's very comforting. verdict- i think i could wear this on a job interview. it's perfect for my everyday tastes, and has already been ordered in 5 ml for me. Looks like my beloved Kali has some serious competition. ETA: this is my "mommy" perfume!!!! my son LOVES IT, and is very well behaved when i wear it. he seems, calmer. which is fitting, as his name is... omg... Solomon.

I have to jump on this one and review it while my sinus medication is working. This is just too intense a perfume to not rave about.... This is not something I would have ordered. I got this in a swap from the lovely FireinCairo, and I'm so glad I offered up O for this! in the vial: VERY Zombi-esque. Damp earth and dead petals, herbs and decay. But oh, the wine... the wine, the wine, the wine. The wine is dragging the scent down, pulling the sharp twang with it. It is a deep caress, the Vampiric Kiss that Anne Rice writes so eloquently about, and that has haunted my daydreams, fantasies, and night terrors since I first read her books years ago. ::sigh:: drydown: It begins to get, well, weird for me here. This scent is SO evocative... I can't find words for it. It's just a tremor in a bottle. I can almost, in the far background, smell a clean, almost aftershavey scent, and that mingled with the wine and earth is oh, so sexy to me. Someone mentioned that this oil brought to mind Lestat, but this is the scent of someone, something, much stronger... more arrogant... more lovely... more in control of mind, body, and spirit than Lestat. And that is saying quite a lot. wearing: It's mellowed out, sort of spent and clean, juicy and dark... mmmmm. verdict: Nosferatu is Blood Countess's Immortal Beloved... and extremely evocative scent full of passion and intensity. I only WISH I'd had a bottle of this back in my younger, club hopping, man hunting days. I probably would've had a lot more fun.

I posted this on LJ when the forum was down, and I'm finally getting around to posting it here. ::whew!:: In the vial: Very sweet. Much sweeter than I expected. Almost like plum wine, though I don't see wine in the description. In the vial, it threatens to be cloying, but on me, at least, this scent goes through some dramatic changes once on. Wet: Still the plummy/berry sweetness, but there's a heavy smokiness in the background. No florals yet, just fruit and smoke. Drydown: There you are, lilac. I like lilac, and lilac likes me. (Something) turns the scent softer, kind of pulls the sweetness back into the shadows. Suddenly it takes on a cinnamony sharpness which just as quickly dies down, and melds all the scents together. It's very shadowy, very dark, yet much lighter, sweeter, and softer than I expected. It fades after about 10 minutes or so, but I didn't put very much on. I guess I'm going to have to slather this one, though the intitial fruitiness might be too much to slather all at once.

This is so lovely... the first one to make me cry. In the bottle, it's super strong Granny Smithiness. So strong that it took me several weeks just to get around to testing it. On, it softens beautifully. Also, this was the first one to transport me to a particularly fond memory of my childhood. Forgive me for a moment while I indulge in that memory. It was late September, and my grandmother brought me to the mountains to ride horses. In this oil, I can almost smell the cool breeze blowing through the barn as I stood there looking up at this great mare, with her shiny copper colored coat. I was in complete awe and more excited than I'd ever been in my whole life. My grandmother had bought a sack full of apples at a roadside stand and we shared them with the horses. Beautiful. Somewhere in the background of this scent I can smell my grandma's perfume. Maybe that's just a psychological thing. God, I love this! Unfortunately it disappears on me very soon after drydown. Time to start slathering.

When you're trying to find a BPAL scent similar to, or reminiscent of, a commercial perfume, which notes should you really try to match up? The base notes since they linger? The top notes? The middle notes? Argh... It seems like I spend more time in the Recommendations forum than anywhere else! I'm just so clueless! Thanks!

On first application, this smells like licorice. Not the cheap stuff, but the expensive kind you find at specialty shops. Almost immediately it melds into a honeysuckle/ magnolia scent. (maybe that's the jasmine. i'm still in the fledgling stage of my olfactory expertise) It reminds me of the courtyard scene in Bram Stoker's Dracula. Just that wandering in the moonlight through the hedge maze... I love this. I mean looooove it.

Now this is lovely. There's absolutely no difference to my nose between the scent in the vial and after wearing for several hours. There's a middle eastern grocery near my parents' house that smells exactly like this. I'm not sure if it's the incense they burn or what, but god, I love this.

I like this one very, very much. Typically I tend to go for spicier scents, but this one just made me happy. It reminds me very much of childhood... My Little Ponies and Strawberry Shortcake dolls. Not in a fake, plasticky way... in the best way possible. Big bottle, please!

I got this one as a gift for my mother in law... my own mother begged me to let her try it, so we snuck it out to give it a go. Um, nope. I think this is the first oil that I actively do not like. My mother's first words about it were "this smells like an infection." Maybe our body chemistry is just funky, but I think I'll find another imp to gift my MIL.

Oh Mata Hari... I wanted to love you so much! I didn't get ANY coffee from this at all. Just uber-strong floral that tickles my nose. When I opened the package itself, I got an overwhelming scent of coffee, but absolutely none from the vial or the oil itself. Where are you Juan Valdez? I'll try it again in a few weeks. Maybe my body chemistry will change in favor of this oil...

I received this one as a freebie in my most recent order, and I was so, so pleased to be able to try this. This one definitely is calming. It's spicy and floral, and mellows out to a sweet spicyness on my skin... like Tintagel without the cinnamon or juniper- whatever is so Christmasy about Tintagel. I didn't realize this was a Voodoo blend when I put it on, but I have felt extremely creative and empowered today.

This is an absolutely gorgeous oil. I was a bit wary of it in the vial, I thought that it would be too strong for me. On wearing, it really mellows out, and is creamy and tropical and light. It gives me a heavy feeling of peace, if that makes any sense. I love, love, love this oil.

A shot of pure, self-indulgent euphoria! A scent that is very, very wicked in its own way: the serotonin-slathered scent of pure milk chocolate. Mmmmmm.... yummy. This is some addictive stuff, I tell ya. Gorgeous velvety chocolate. Nothing but. Layered with O is positively delightful. ::swoon::

O is, quite simply, gorgeous. To me, it is the scent of a romantic honeymoon in Italy... 'romantic' in the sense that all you truly experience of the city is the fantabulous view from the balcony. Everything else is room service, bubble baths, and satin sheets. This is a beautifully feminine scent. ...sigh...

Does anyone know if using Vitamin E oil as a carrier would work? My husband suggested it; he says it will keep the oils from going rancid indefinitely. (he's a blacksmith and uses it all the time... for what, exactly, I have no clue)

Thanks everyone for being sooooo helpful!! Seraglio, even if it's not what I'm looking for, sounds LOVELY. I am definitely ordering it, as well as Mata Hari and Old Sybarus. (sp) The others I'll be ordering are Haunted, Bliss (yummy), and O. We'll see how it goes! Thanks again!! Hugs!