Sheila

I tried Bewitched this weekend and it instantly shot into my top-ten list (sorry, O). At first it reminds me of smarties--very sweet and candyish. But then the musk kicks in to ground the scent and keep it from going too sweet. I don't get any sage or tea--just blackberries and musk. Lovely!

Maiden is one of my top-ten scents. The rose and carnation blend together perfectly, creating a floral yet spicy mix of scents that is beautiful. (I personally don't smell the white tea.) It's an innocent, rosy pink scent. Charming! Try it if you're a fan of Lush's Potion.

Yes! I also dislike almond and detest lotus, but love this. First, it's a blast of cherry almond sweetness. Then, I get a honey scent for an hour or two. This stage is followed by a gentle, incensy spice, with the beautiful amber and myrrh providing a warm sunshiney base. Unfortunately it doesn't last long on me. On to the big-bottle list it goes. Meow! ETA: I don't notice the dreaded lotus at all; maybe because it's "golden" lotus in this blend? Although that could be the cause of the sweet honey scent...hm.

Funny...I was going to revive this thread today, but I see it's already been bumped! Today I'm wearing Bastet over Skindazzles' Angel dupe body frosting. They go very well together since they both have a foody-sweet element. The patchouli in Angel and the honey-ish scent of the musk/amber in Bastet are a lovely combination. And, as everyone else has said....for some strange reason (because they don't really have any common ingredients that I can tell) Angel smells like a less-complex and less-lovely version of Xiuhtecuhtli (on the skin, not in the bottle).

Very, very strong patchouli and very, very strong rose. This scent is sharp and bitter on me...and did I say strong? Wow is it ever. Unfortunately not for me. I swapped my imp. ETA: Description from lab.

Today I keep thinking to myself, "Oooh, I smell Angel! Who's wearing Angel?" Then I realize I'm smelling Xiuhtecuhtli! This is a complex, well-blended scent--hard to distinguish any individual notes. It's very sophisticated. It does remind me of Angel, though I'm not sure why since the ingredients in the two scents are so different. It must be the patchouli basenote? This is a lovely smokey scent, dark with just a touch of orange and floral. It's on my big-bottle list.

Right after applying, Velvet is strong chocolate. Then the sandalwood comes through, and like other reviewers, I thought it smelled like pencil shavings in this blend. Finally, after a couple of hours, the myrrh comes out to play, turning this into a mellow, sweet, gently spicy scent. It's very nice at this stage--and strangely, it reminds me of Snake Oil but with chocolate, not vanilla, laid over the spices. (Which makes me wonder if there's myrrh in Snake Oil?) Anyway, this is a rich scent, and if you want to smell like chocolate, I think you'll like it.

When I first learned about BPAL, I kept hearing about this fabulous LE scent called Snow White. I was curious, and read the description, and thought it sounded kind of bland and...well, cold. The reviews scared me because almond kept coming up--not a scent I like. When it was rereleased at Yule, I didn't order it. But Ice Queen didn't agree with me, so I swapped for Snow White...and it's been love ever since. (The same thing happened to me with Samhain and Snake Oil. I guess the lesson here is if everyone seems to love a scent, chances are I will too--though I hate to admit it.) Anyway, I see why people say this smells like coconut, or almond, or vanilla. However, this is another scent that is so well-blended that I can't pick out any individual notes. To me, this is creamy and slightly sweet. It's warm and comforting. (And strangely, not "snowy" at all.) It's faint, but wafts up at unexpected moments, reminding me of its presence. One of my top-ten scents.

When I first learned about BPAL, I kept hearing about this fabulous LE scent called Samhain. I was curious, and read the description, and thought it sounded awful. I didn't want to smell like a pumpkin! When it was rereleased at Halloween, I didn't order it. Then I got an imp in a swap...and immediately had to swap for a full bottle. (The same thing happened to me with Snow White.) This scent is very well-blended. In the bottle it has that foul popcorn-flavored-Jelly-Belly scent that I've noticed with some of the foody blends. But once it's on, it morphs into creamy loveliness with a hint of clove, apple, nutmeg. It's sweet and smooth. I love it.

It took me awhile to appreciate Snake Oil. It wasn't what I was expecting at all. I imagined it to be a sweet vanilla with some spices in the background--cloves or nutmeg or something. I was very surprised when I first wore it and smelled plasticy play-doh! Indeed, the first 3 or 4 times I tried it, I got that strange plastic smell. Now I know that's because it wasn't "aged." My bottle, which is now at least 4 months old (I bought it from a forumite so I'm not sure), has become divine. Snake Oil is comforting, deep, and mysterious--and also sexy. It's vanilla, but not a sugary, foody vanilla. Aged Snake Oil is one of my top-ten scents. When it's time for a new bottle, I'll age it before I wear it.

RIP, my darling Unseelie. I'll cherish the 5 imps I've managed to horde. Unseelie is indeed powdery, as many reviewers have commented. It's very otherworldly and ethereal. It is so well-blended on me that I can't recognize any single note. It's a flowery, herby, posh, powdery cloud that really lasts--and throws--on me.

Regan is a very sweet, creamy floral. The vanilla in this smells, to me, very different from the sultry vanilla that's in Snake Oil. This vanilla is sweet--and the orchid adds a creaminess that deepens the sweetness. This is one of the few scents that doesn't change, for me, from bottle to skin. I love florals, and I love vanilla, so this is one of my top-ten scents. My next order will contain a big bottle. ETA: I didn't know what stephanotis was, so I looked it up: "any of a genus of Old World tropical woody vines of the milkweed family with fragrant white waxy flowers having a tubular corolla terminating in five lobes."

I keep hearing this....but I think it smells more like Snow White? The piece of Snowcake I have has no almond scent at all--dry or wet or on my skin. It's all creamy, flowery, vanilly goodness.

I also don't smell fig in Mata Hari--just coffee! Intrigue is very, very sweet on me--bubble gummy, even. Try this if you want a sweet fig scent. Dragon's Heart, however, I think is wonderful. The fig is there, but it's a spicy fig--more sexy and grown up. I haven't tried any of the others you mention. ETA: Oh, I've tried Nephilim also--didn't get any fig, just patchouli and vertiver. It's a very dark scent, at least on me.

You might want to try Intrigue. It doesn't have any lotus, but it has fig. The two are damn near indistinguishable on my skin. (Sicky sweet--too sweet for me.) There is a slight cedar note in the background, but on me it's all sweet sweet sweet....

If you're looking for true aquatics (and I would definitely not put Dublin in this category), I would recommend: Amsterdam (watery tulips) Empyreal Mist Neo-Tokyo The Unicorn And maybe The Lady of Shallot (though it's more "perfumey" to me than watery)

If you can get hold of it, the discontinued Luna is almost pure jasmine, at least on my skin. ETA: and if you don't mind an incense note, the Caterpillar is lovely also....

I love Samhain in my oil burner.

To me, Hollywood smells most strongly of jasmine and roses, so you might want to search the BPAL site for oils with those two components. Also, if you've tried Lush's Fever massage bar, it has the same scent--only more waxy / lipsticky.

This is lovely and soft--and not at all cinnamony on me. (In fact, is there really cinnamon in this blend? It's not listed in the ingredients. I was hesitant to try this because I heard it contained cinnamon, which isn't my favorite scent.) It starts spicy and then fades into a gentle, powdery, posh scent. It reminds me of a musk perfume my mother wore in the '70s. It captures the feeling of a very ancient, silent woods, with lots of vegetation and fallen logs. Lovely!

I think Celestial face cream (which I use on my hands as a lovely but expensive moisturizer--my face can't take the cocoa butter) smells like new Snake Oil--that plasticy sharp scent. (But it doesn't smell like old Snake Oil, which is sweet and spicy and dreamy.) ETA: I'm wearing Dublin for the first time today. I'm always looking for a Jungle/Flower Tub scent, and though this isn't an exact copy (or even that close, really), it's dry-down is similar in feel. Less fruity, more powdery, if that makes any sense--but still very green. Yay!

At first, this was a very sharp pine scent. I don't want to smell like pine! Then it mellows into a soft, spicy, powdery forest scent. I live in WA, and this reminds me of hiking in the Olympic Peninsula rainforest. I don't get any rose scent (or any individual scent for that matter), but rather the refreshing, ancient, mysterious feel of a misty forest. This is beautiful. Onto the big-bottle list it goes! ETA: The longer I wear this, the more it grows into something similar to my Lush favorite scent, Jungle/Flower Tub! Yay! It's not an exact copy, but still lovely.

I second Endymion, if you can handle a sweet pear scent with the floral (though it always struck me as pale green instead of pink). I also second Maiden, which is very pink. ETA: Regan is a nice, girly, vanilla floral. It's a creamy-whitish-yellow. I adore it. Also, I second the Unicorn, which is lovely but silvery-blue.

If you can find it, All Saints' (a Halloween LE) is very floral-incensey....

This does remind me of Unseelie a bit, which makes me happy because I'm gonna miss Unseelie.... On me, this is a feminine scent--soft and powdery, but with a sharp edge (I think that's the juniper? or bergamot? I see where people are getting citrus, but on me it's not quite that acidic). The musk is very sexy, and the orchid gives a touch of mellow floral. It has good lasting power, too. A keeper!