lameir

The beeswax drydown on this is fantastic, strong but not overpowering, and lasts for ages. Unfortunately, to get to that stage I have to make it through one and a half hours of pungent, evil SALTPETER with a dash of nutmeg. I concur with everyone who's said this is ridiculously evocative, and I'm tempted to keep my imp just for the novelty, but I don't think I'd ever wear it. :/

I love Shanghai as well, and have the same problem -- it's gone within minutes. So sad! I'll have to second the Embalming Fluid recommendation just because the two scents are so similar to my nose. I do prefer Shanghai because it's softer and subtler than EF, but at least I can still smell EF an hour later ... I've been trying to come up with alternatives that are less gruesomely named, but honestly, nothing I've tried comes closer to Shanghai than EF. (I adore Morocco, but it smells completely different to me.)

I believe Ozymandias is supposed to go there, I haven't tried it though. Ozymandias was dry and beautiful, but somewhat perfume-y, not really what I'd associate with desert sand at all. The Ifrit has a "desert sand" note listed, but I haven't tried it yet. Oh, I have to try Cordelia! I've been looking for lilac blends as well, now that the lilac bushes are in bloom and reminding me of how much I like the scent. French Love smells a lot like lilac to me. I don't know if there's actually lilac in it, or if it's just the dragon's blood that turns to lilac on my skin or something, but it's lovely.

I said recently (in the Dragon Moon update thread, re: Ifrit) that Djinn didn't quite work with my chemistry, but today I thought I should give it another chance now that it's had time to age a little. And I think I'll have to retract my previous statement! Djinn was the first BPAL scent I ever tried, and it was never horrifically bad on me, just a little too green. It used to remind me of High John the Conqueror fresh on my skin -- all intense green herbs, with a hint of something dark and bitter. My imp is about 9 months old now, and it seems aged Djinn just smells of smoke and ash. It's a little less acrid than it used to be, a bit darker, and still a little hostile. Much less green. I love it. I still wouldn't wear it as a "me" perfume, but that's not really what I bought it for in the first place; I just want it to take me to the desert at dusk, fires in the distance, smoke and sand and dark things moving in the shadows. It does that now.

The one word I keep wanting to use to describe Marie is "screeching." It's a cool, piercing floral, very bright, so intense it makes my eyes water. Not innocent, but not sexy either; certainly not friendly. After a few minutes on my skin, the rose goes soapy. I'm beginning to get a headache from it as well. Massive throw, and it doesn't want to go away even after I've scrubbed with soap and water. Yikes. Definitely not for me.

In the imp, and freshly applied, White Rabbit is all sweet, sharp citrus and ginger with a hint of tea. Unfortunately, after mere seconds on my skin, that lovely brightness is joined by a musty smell reminiscent of spoiled milk. Or condensed milk, maybe. Spoiled condensed milk? It's a bit like (my beloved) Sudha Segara with a drop of Baobhan Sith, but gone horribly, tragically wrong. Ugh.

In the imp, as so many other people have said, this smells exactly like Lush's Snowcake. Applied to the skin, the scent is still very similar to Snowcake, but it quickly becomes quite a bit sweeter. I don't get any honey from it at all, and it smells nothing like O on me. (Thank god -- O went horribly sour when I tried it.) The sweetness is pleasant, gentle rather than cloying. It's not really foody, more like almond shower cream or body lotion or something. I don't think I want a bottle of this, but it is a lovely, soft scent that I might like to wear on quiet days. (Lasting power isn't too bad. I've had it on for two hours now and it's still fairly strong. It does stay close to the skin, though; I have to put my nose to my wrist to really smell it.)

Chimera is a gorgeous, warm scent. In the bottle, it is oddly stale to my nose, with an almost sour tinge. As soon as it's applied to skin, however, the cinnamon comes out in full force -- sharply spicy and fairly sweet, but there's a smokiness there that prevents it from smelling like baked goods. My favourite stage is the one after: the cinnamon is still there, but mellowed, and there's honey. And not the kind of honey that goes sour on me like the one in O, but delicious, sweet, thick honey. Yay! This easily lasts six hours on me, usually longer, and I have to apply it carefully because it can be overpowering in the beginning. Not an everyday scent for me, just because it's so strong, but whenever I do put it on, I really enjoy it. (Word of caution: I'm not normally allergic to cinnamon, nor particularly sensitive in general, but when I accidentally got some Chimera near my mouth the other day (via neck and hands), it burrrned.)

So my mum's been using Fendi for years and years, but it was discontinued in 2006 (I think) and has been getting more and more difficult to find. Naturally I thought, hey, while she's looking for an alternative -- why not try and enable her? scentagious.com says: Fendi is categorized as a chypre-floral. Top Notes: bergamot, aldehydes, rosewood, fruits Heart Notes: jasmine, rose, ylang-ylang, geranium, carnation Base Notes: patchouli, musk, leather, sandalwood, cedarwood, spices, amber, vanilla I've tested it a couple of times myself, but I'm just not good enough at picking out notes yet. I can strongly smell leather, wood, and rose. Something fresh that I think may be the bergamot, and under it, a musky smell not unlike Coyote. It starts out very harsh and dry, almost masculine, then eventually softens a bit into a slightly sweeter scent. Hrm. I thought Libertine (Rosewood and chamomile with bergamot, violet, red sandalwood, primrose and Arabian musk.) might be a good fit -- it doesn't have the leather, but it supposedly smells very woody, dry and rich. Also perhaps Casanova (A rakish blend of leather, anise, lavender, bergamot and amber with tonka, lemon peel and lusty patchouli.) for the combination of leather, bergamot, and amber to warm it. Maybe Lyonesse (Golden vanilla and gilded musk, stargazer lily, white sandalwood, grey amber, elemi, orris root, ambergris and sea moss.), but I think that might be too sweet ... Any other recommendations? Thoughts? *hopeful*

Sorry for the late reply/bump, and thanks a lot for the suggestions! I'll make her a GC imp pack first (Ozymandias, Odin, Dragon's Heart, Libertine, Casanova, Snake Oil?), then perhaps try LEs if she still isn't convinced.