ivyandpeony

I know a lot of people have remarked on this resemblance, but BPAL doesn't sell any dupes! All their blends are original formulations - although when I saw the first reviews comparing it to Alien, I did think the name was a really eerie coincidence. Just think about it this way, though... if they had 600-something perfumes before 51 came out, why would they suddenly start making dupes with that one? (51 was just released in March 2007). On me, the results are very odd: it's reminiscent of Creed Fleurissimo, with which it has absolutely no notes in common. I absolutely adore 51, though, it's one of my favorite new blends - maybe even one of my top 10, period. Wow - who would have thought that the formula for Old Spice was so complex? I actually love the smell of it too, my dad and his dad both wore it (my dad rarely wears anything scented now because his skin has become really sensitive). Dracul reminds me of it a bit - I wonder if the "spice" in Old Spice has some clove in it? This one is really funny - I love Dolce Stil Nuovo and I think it's probably my favorite Lupercalia blend of all of them. When it's wet, and for about the first 30 minutes, it totally reminds me of Avon Sweet Honesty that I wore when I was about 12 to 14. Ah, the memories!

I love the oakmoss and Spanish moss notes, but usually don't like what they are matched with - the aquatics & the evergreens. I don't know if these will necesarily = moss front & center, but at least the combos are pretty different, so you might find the moss is amped up or better complemented for your chemistry by these notes. So... some LEs for you - I put these in the order of (IMO) the ease of tracking them down. I think you should try Banded Sea Snake before it's gone - it's Snake Oil with oak and sea mosses and olive leaf - very unusual but also very mossy to my nose. Luperci (patchouli, Gurjam balsam, essence of Sampson Root, beeswax, juniper, oakmoss, ambrette seed, honey and East African musk) has a very mossy feel to me as well. I definitely support BomH's rec of Whippoorwill. It has lots of sweet bamboo on me - I discovered that I really amp bamboo with the Asian lunacy series - but it has deep swampy, mossy base notes. And Graveyard Dirt was very "dirty" like Zombi but without the florals, which I found wet and mossy in character. As for GCs, Nocnitsa is foresty, but the moss really holds its own for me - the evergreen is very balanced. I just tried Robin Goodfellow and it has the smell of woods to me, a mossy forest of deciduous trees opposed to an evergreen forest. (And I have heard RG compared to Greed, which also contains oakmoss, so eventually you might want to check it out too - I find it much sweeter.) Omen isn't a scent that I can really wear, but its earthy components (oakmoss, patchouli, myrrh, juniper) seem to make it especially mossy to me. The juniper might be the dealbreaker for you, but I think it's worth a try!

I'm sure that Beth's leather & milk notes are bouquets - one, since the Lab would definitely disclose the use of an animal ingredient and two, since there could be no possible way to distill some sort of smelly essence from leather or dairy products. At least not anything that would be fit to put on your body. Yogurt absolute anyone? I don't think that the lab's honeysuckle floral note contains any true bee-derived honey components - I think that would also have been disclosed. Beth is a lacto-ovo vegetarian, so she is very respectful of others' practices - that's why I think the Lab would disclose any honey-containing blends that didn't include honey in the description. Here's a list I compiled by searching a Word document I have - I'm pretty sure it's complete, but please comment if I have missed something. I searched for "honey," which also found "honeyed" and "honeycomb," but I left the honeysuckle blends it found off this list unless, of course, they also contained honey. I double-checked for "beeswax" and for "mead" as well. Al Aaraf Alice And There Was A Great Cry In Egypt Aries 2007 Athens Bengal Bien Loin D'ici Bilquis Blood Kiss Brides of Dracula Chintamani-Dhupa Cleopatra Testing Poisons on Those Condemned to Death Cockaigne Cupid Complaining to Venus Dana O'Shee The Death of Sardanapal Delphi Dragon's Milk Eden Et Lux Fuit Eve Faiza, The Black Mamba Flower Moon Freak Show Gennivre, L'artiste du Diable Hearth 2005 Hellcat Hetairae Honey Moon Itasô Kansei Nenkan Jorô No Fûzoku Jezebel Kali Khajuraho La Fee Verte Lady Luck Blues Les Bijoux Litha Luperci The Masque Milk Moon - 2005 and 2007 versions O The Oblation Ogun Ostara Osun The Penitent Magdalen Pink Moon 2005 Pink Phoenix Poisson D'Avril Queen of Sheba Rose Moon Schlafende Baigneuse Sed Non Satiata Selkie Skuld Spirit of the Komachi Cherry Tree Sudha Segara Svadhinoapatika Thaleia (the Muse, not the Grace) 13 - July 2007 version Tiger Lily Trick #1 The Witch Queen White Rabbit

The Candy Butcher is the most chocolatey, but Boomslang has crazy throw. Of the two, I prefer Boomslang because it's a lot more complex on me - I like the Snake Oil spices and stuff. Whatever you decide, save Bliss for later, since it's a GC and likely to be widely available for a long, long time. It is lovely, pure milk chocolate and you can't go wrong with it, but get something special while you can.

I agree - the lab is really good at responding to things like this. Right now, a number of labbies are out of town at the ComicCon in San Diego, including Beth (who is probably the best source for the info) - but you should get a response. I'll compile and post a list of honey-containing oils shortly. I also think there might be one or two that contain beeswax - I will check on that too. And if the lab provides the names of any non-vegan oils that aren't easily discerned from the search engine, I will ask if we can post them here.

It's the preppy BPAL! I can't wait to get mine! Thanks for sharing the picture, heysunshine.

Ooh! That sounds perfect, name-wise and scentwise!

I can't come up with any new suggestions (yet) but I had to come in and laugh at the topic!

I figured I would bump this thread up to the front page - I am going to add some links to that first post and this will help remind me and this way I can thank you all for your participation too. Hi Linda M! I haven't seen you in the longest time. I love 51 but I have never tried Alien - a few people have commented on the similarity so I am definitely going to have to seek it out next time I'm malling it up. Spacekitty, that's a great list - I had not made the Fresh Sugar- CD connection but once I read that, *lightbulb* my brain immediately hooked it up. I need to go try my CD again!

naeelah, I've noticed that Hellion-Nahemoth resemblance too. I have never tried layering anything with Nahemoth, though - that's a good idea! I get a little dark fruit from it myself, so maybe something with a strong patchouli note would be good for me. And of course, now Nahemoth's been discontinued it's surely going to become as scarce as Hellion before too long. Luckily, I did buy a bottle of each while they were available, so I will have to do some experimenting and post my discoveries.

whitemyrrh, no problem with starting the new thread - your problems are very specific, so it makes sense to have it stand alone for discussion. After you've had some time to get responses, try some stuff out, report back, and discussion has died down, I'll merge it into the big sleep thread. Thanks to Armaita for quoting that post and to the OP. I had never seen that broken down before and it makes perfect sense. Ironically, I suffer from all three types of insomnia described at different times - which I guess makes sense, since everyone has all three doshas present and can get out of balance depending on what's going on with your life. I'm Pitta, though, and I do mostly suffer from that type of insomnia. TKO is usually my sleep aid of choice - smooth lavender, sweet and creamy - and as I think about it, it definitely helps with the occasional Vata type insomnia I get too. I would think that Quietude would definitely be worth a try, too, whitemyrrh - considering that it's designed to calm more than to knock you out, it might be good for someone who's so sensitive to sleep-inducers.

Atia rocks! I have no idea what she was truly like, but she was by far the most entertaining character in Rome for me. The first thing that came to mind for me? The Witch Queen! She and Atia have a lot in common. And doesn't wild plum, red musk, tuberose, calla lily, heliotrope, pimento, ylang ylang and beeswax beneath a dark haze of sinister purple-hued incense smoke seem very compatible with Atia? I'm sure it's no coincidence that most of my other ideas all are from the Diabolus category: Hell's Belle (Oleander with wet, sweet mandarin, lush magnolia, a rush of deep musk and a touch of spice), Horreur Sympathique (blood musk, golden honey, thick black wine, champagne grapes, tobacco flower, plum blossom, tonka bean, oakmoss, carnation, benzoin, opoponax, and sugar cane), and Malice (Ylang ylang, clove, Indonesian red patchouli, and dark myrrh) It's too bad that you can't wear rose... because Nemesis struck me as a very Atia-like scent too (Cypress, ginger, fig, dried rose, red patchouli, tonka bean and cyclamen). And it could be that your first instinct may be the best. Snake Oil entices everyone, it lasts forever and has tons of throw, and to my nose it could be an ancient recipe. It's so heady and delicious, but but simple and natural at the same time. You know that we are going to clamor for pictures of this party, right?

Another topic that you guys might have fun with is Best All-Purpose Enabling Scents. (Mod note: I might merge this thread into the enabling one when the Camp Newbie fun is over for this round, because the suggestions are so good. Then a new one can be started when a future newbie event is underway. But for now I think they are better as separate threads, since this one has such up-to-the-minute recs. Please feel free to share any thoughts!) I love the term "gateway scent." I agree about 51, too - a great way to introduce commercial-perfume-trained noses to BPAL. ETA: merged with discussion in enabling thread since there'd been no comments in the "Camp Newbie" thread for 30 days or more.

VelvetSky, Anne Bonny just hates me - but I will give this one some thought, and I figured I would bump your post and see if it gets any responses from the AB mutual admiration society I do love the way it smells in the vial - I would love an AB soap or candle. BTW, it sure is nice to see you around here! Is it the freesia? Ambers usually go all powdery on me but not white amber apparently. Maybe it's the guava and the mandarin? Hi Tempest I love the 51 icon you made, and I love 51 too. I ordered a bottle of it the day that the order with my imp of it arrived - I could not wait 51 is one of those blends where I think the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Usually guava and honeydew are disgusting on me and neroli has to be blunted with something creamy. I think I would describe it as a fruity-floral light musk (light modifying the noun musk, not the entire description, you know?) Its complexity also reminds me of the complexity of all the Salon blends. Now, our chemistries could be really different (as far as the other notes go, I adore ambers of all types, I can wear lighter woods but not heavy ones like cedar, light musks are awesome and I love mandarin too. Oh, and I absolutely worship Beth's freesia.) Some blends you might want to try: First, some LEs... Ace of Hearts (Purest white lotus, white rose, rain orchid, rose gardenia, freesia, and Bulgarian rose, but I swear there are some other magical things in it too ), Budding Moon (Plum blossom, peony, lotus root, Chinese musk and a hint of white ginger), Stardust (champagne, hyacinth, tuberose, ylang ylang and flashing white musk with jonquil, tobacco flower, white sandalwood and a pale poppy) A few Salons: Bat-Woman (ratkirani, calla lily, moonflower, honeysuckle, night-blooming jasmine, French lavender, verbena, grey amber and nighttime air), Schlafende Bagneuse (skin musk, white cream, honeycomb, yellow rose, King mandarin, chrysanthemum, golden amber, honeysuckle, and wide-throated yellow monkey-flower accord), Spirit of the Komachi Cherry Tree (cherry blossom, blue lilac, lavender monofloral honey, white sandalwood, and Asian pear). And from the good ole GC, Kitsune-Tsuki (Asian plum, orchid, daffodil, jasmine and white musk), Cordelia (lilac, lemon, green tea, wisteria, osmanthus, white cedar, and Chinese musk), Endymion (d'Anjou pear, Lily of the Valley, bois du rose and white musk).

You guys may notice I merged the Pruno & Privilege discussion into this thread, since the jailbird has flown and the Lab has taken the scents down.

That sounds miserable, Anna. I hope that it resolves on its own - I have had that happen with the side effects of some medications. In the meantime, I'd try out some things that help with nausea or that have a sort of head-clearing effect, maybe trying things from the mint, citrus, and ginger families. Moxie is citrus and ginger, so it might be a good one to try! Grr, the headache relief Panacea, might be a good one too.

A little mod note - I'm going to leave this as a standalone thread for a bit while people get their orders and comment, but it will then be merged into the main thread about GC-LE similarity. Thanks!

Shub is Shub-Niggarath, from the Picnic in Arkham category, BTW. There's a special kind of shorthand around here. It will definitely depend on your chemistry, but for me anything with dragon's blood (resin) as a component = sweet and sharp at the same time - unfortunately, I am not very keen on sharp scents so I can't wear most of them. But take a look at the Ars Draconis category. Dragon's Milk is has a lot of honey in it which would make it even sweeter for you; Dragon's Claw has a nice, dry feel complementing the sweetness of the dragon's blood.

Hi MissyJoJo - welcome to the forum! I merged your topic with the existing job interview recommendations thread, but I thought you might also find this thread interesting - Bravery, Courage, Confidence... Good luck with your interview!

That is an excellent observation! And they both hated me with a vengeance *sob* But that's such a great suggestion - for anyone dying to try CR, try the Knave and if the foody notes work on you, CR is worth pursuing. I couldn't even smell the rose in Knave of Hearts, the currants and pastry really went nuts on me. icing, I find them really, really different. The Star is fairly dry to me - like unsweetened coconut with a squeeze of lime. Shoggoth is more complex and much sweeter, maybe from the florals like the osmanthus & wisteria. Both are lovely, they're just distant cousins to me. To me, Tamamo-no-mae is really different from Hunger Moon & HGM - it turns really peachy. You definitely should try Kumiho (white tea and ginger) and Sudha Segara (ginger, honey, milk & ambrosia) - both have that crispy, citrusy ginger note and are great for summertime. I find 51 very different from HGM although I love both! On me, 51 is a very crisp, light musk with some citrus and heady florals. Definitely treat yourself to a bottle (or two) since CD is going to be around for a while longer! (I know the US postage price increases are affecting lots of international customers, but you can scan the swaps section for others in the UK to share shipping... I'm all about enabling whenever possible)

Yes, join the dark side. Nahemoth is gorgeous, and Golachab (another Qlipoth) is a deep incensey scent that I love. I have had my bottles of both for about a year and aging has only made them like, incredible.

This is such a great idea, jennygardener - just to keep things tidy in Recs, I combined the individual day threads into one post. Reminds me of having "days of the week" panties when I was little. Some of you might want to go back and edit your post a wee bit to specify what day you were discussing - if you replied to multiple days and you'd like your responses merged, just hit the "report" button at the bottom of one of them for me and I will take care of it. Happy discussions!

I know that in this subforum, there are specific topics asking for recommendations for scents that seem purple and scents that seem red, possibly more... I will find them when I have a moment and post links! (or if someone beats me to it, that's cool )

Just seconding Ah Xia's remark about Dixie Love Perfume - I also find it reminiscent of Love Me. I was especially pleased to discover this, because Love Me smells fabulous on one of my friends and is one of her signature scents - but on me, it's sharp & strident. There's something about DLP that makes it work on me, though - and I love the name.

That's really funny, ClareN! At least one of your fellow forum members yearns for a smoky lilac scent, so you might be on to something. (ETA: I ended up merging the thread about smoky lilac scents into this one, so the link was dead!) I'm getting lots of beautiful lilac when I wear Spirit of the Komachi Cherry Tree, and I love the way the other notes in the blend work with it. I think all of you lilac lovers need to put this one on your list if you haven't tried it already!