ivyandpeony

Drewreporting, I would definitely go ahead and try Masquerade and Vixen! If Karma perfume is fading on you, they may not seem heavy to your nose - I have Karma also and it is pretty strong on me. So sometimes it's a matter of personal preference, body chemistry, or a combination... Masquerade is my favorite "Lushy" BPAL. As for aquatics, you should check out this thread to start. If you reply to the thread, it will get bumped up to the front page of Recs and you're likely to get some good input including more recent releases.

I wonder if there's cassia in the blend - I don't think that it technically is considered to be the same plant/species, etc. as cinnamon(?) Cardamom also smells similar to cinnamon in some blends to me. Sorry that you had a reaction though! I have had reactions to a blend that I have worn safely before, so it's not totally uncommon. Some things to try - make sure not to apply after a shower or bath; apply unscented lotion as a barrier between your skin and your BPAL; don't apply when you're feeling warm, overheated, or have been especially active; and/or try making a diluted blend with a bit of carrier oil in a separate bottle and see if that prevents a reaction.

Just adding my support for Queen of Sheba - it's so spicy on me, I love it - and Baghdad - the rose is a background player if I even pick it up at all. And Al Sharain is super spicy clove on me, very edible but not overly sweet.

I think you hit the nail on the head - you should have made him try some things on his skin instead of letting him just sniff the imps and bottles. The scents can be so intense and overwhelming from the bottle, especially if you aren't accustomed to oils. Add to that the fact that he sniffed tons of them, and that could account for it all blurring into one big smell for him. Maybe you should try this for your future encounters. Every time you get together with him, swipe each of his wrists with a new scent. Let him smell them wet, then don't let him smell them again for 30 minutes. I think he'll be amazed by the development of the scents. Are there any commercial scents that he likes? You can google those to figure out what notes are in them, and let him try BPAL blends with those notes.

Josey! Law school hasn't changed you.... yet. I gave Eat Me a whirl yesterday - despite the description including "3 vanilla cakes" this one is crazy fruity on me. The currants are remiscent of, but not identical to, the plum in Snake Charmer - they actually seemed a little boozy. Eat Me & Mouse's Tale seem to be doing such wildly diverse things on different people, I think the only logical thing to do is to treat yourself to both of them so you can decide for yourself. After all, there are only so many things you can indulge in when you're studying for the bar, but perfume is definitely on the OK list, isn't it?

I'll do another try of Eat Me this weekend and comment on it, since I have only tried it once from the imp when I was trying a bunch of other imps (in that Yay! my order is here kind of frenzy ) But I am a huge fan of Antique Lace as well as the Mouse. Neither one is foody to my nose in the least - I'd categorize AL as a rich, musky vanilla with floral tones and MLST as a light, powdery floral vanilla. On me, MLST has a lot of sweet pea and white musk evenly balanced with the vanilla - whereas AL is predominantly vanilla. So, I owe you an Eat Me review...

I'm late to the party, but Silk Road is my summertime substitute for Snake Oil. It seems to have the same spices but much less heavy sweetness (and while I don't really get patchouli from Snake Oil, I definitely don't get it from Silk Road). I was very patchouli-averse until entering the BPAL universe, so I sympathize - but we have the best smelling dirty hippies anywhere. And I have really grown fond of a lot of patchouli blends in the almost-two-years of BPAL sniffing and wearing I've experienced, so write yourself a note and see where you stand two years from now. A lot of people find that their tastes change!

Isn't there a politer way of saying that, or at least explaining what you don't like about them? The artworks that each Salon scent is based on are featured on the Salon page of the Lab's site. I took that as irony — mistaking known artworks as being Macha's design, then pretending they weren't up to her usual standard. A joke, not a slam. *shrug* Maybe a , , JK or something could have been included, if that's what was intended. Irony and sarcasm don't translate well without vocal inflection and facial expressions, as we all know, even when they're intended in a humorous way. I'm as irreverent as anyone around here, but that just came off as a blunt and inconsiderate comment to me - hence my post.

I've been very surprised this summer at the two scents that are hanging in there for the long haul. You'd think that Snow Angel and Eden would be light, floataway blends, but with both, I am smelling them on myself the morning after I apply them until I shower. No complaints about that, it's just that I've always expected my summery scents to fade quickly (yes, Sudha Segara, I am looking at YOU).

I wouldn't think you had developed a true allergy to a spice or some spices, since you aren't experiencing skin rashes or welts, but you didn't mention whether you'd tried these on your skin yet. But I do agreee with HonorAlexandria, I think all the oils you mentioned all have spices in them that may be the common element. I remember when I first tried Silk Road, I described it as "Snake Oil Lite." Bengal raises welts on me, and I don't react to much. And I do find Morocco and Scherazade spicy too. I think that the descriptions of all these either list specific spices or the general term "spices" too. (I have suspected cardamom as an itchy-maker for me - Alone, Bengal, Al-Shairain all make me bumpy and red.) Do things that trigger headaches in you come and go, or do they tend to always cause headaches once you've smelled them? Do your common allergens trigger headaches too? Sounds really frustrating - I'm sorry you are having these troubles!

Of course you ordered them all. Maybe someone will post some photos of them for us soon. My (6 1/2 year old) computer has decided it doesn't recognize my memory card reader anymore, and after wrestling with it for hours over the course of a couple of weeks, I'm just biding my time til we buy a new computer. Besides, I just have the two Salon scents and that's not very exciting.

Isn't there a politer way of saying that, or at least explaining what you don't like about them? The artworks that each Salon scent is based on are featured on the Salon page of the Lab's site. I only have Orpheus and Lucretia, but each artwork is on the label - or really, a small portion of it, since it's hard to make a beautiful label with just square millimeters to work with. Are any of the others different? I love that the artwork is featured on the ones I have so I can be reminded of it when I wear the scent, and I didn't find anything wrong with the labels aesthetically at all. Also, as Macha's reminded us a few times, Beth also designs a lot of the special labels, so they may have been Beth's concept.

That is a good call, GypsyRoseRed! I personally can't describe the notes in White Light (I'm sure some of the reviewers have done a good job!) but to me it's somehow bright and soothing at the same time.

I have been through phases like that, Dinah, so I totally sympathize. Moxie, which is a panacea blend, has lots of orange-tangerine family citrus in it as well as some type of ginger. It is very invigorating and motivating - I love it! Since the Origins scent that's helping you is also orangey, you might want to do a search for some of the orange-based or citrus perfumes you haven't tried and see if they give you a similar effect. I haven't tried the TAL blend Brass Balls yet, but from the description - hey, just from the NAME - it might help you. If you want to see some of the BPALs others have found calming, there's a thread here discussing some chill-out blends for stressful times. Hope you start feeling less stressed and more confident soon.

I merged a number of threads asking for "clean" recommendations - some with qualifiers like spicy, woody, green, fruity, etc - so I thought I'd bump this one up. Clean seems very popular this time of year!

Hi jewelbug! There's a discussion of some lavender recommendations here that you might want to skim through, too. (That doesn't make yours a duplicate topic - my philosophy is, everyone should be free to start a thread in here to ask for specific recommendations when they need help with a decision! I just reserve the right to archive outdated ones and/or merge topics that relate to other ones of general interest to everyone. Just in case anyone was wondering how things work in here. ) Good luck with your project!

This happens to me, too. I'll move this over to the label discussion thread, though, since I think more people will see it and therefore you'll likely get more input and ideas.

As you all may be able to tell, I just merged a whole lotta seperate threads about sexy scents into a bigger discussion about sexy, seductive, provocative scents. I think it's much tidier to have them in one thread. So if you are wondering where any lascivious discussions went, I'm sure they are in here!

Harlot!

There hasn't been a topic that covers blends with both longevity AND throw, but you can check out this thread for a discussion of those with the strongest sillage, and this one for the longest-lasting BPAL oils. Chances are that there's a good bit of overlap. I'm not inclined to merge the two with this thread, though, since I find those qualities can be separate and distinct... otherwise, wouldn't there just be one term that meant "it lasts forever and you can smell it for miles?" But if anyone has a differing opinion on that, please do let me know - I'm all for keeping the place tidy.

I have smelled a lot that didn't work on me... but the hippiest one that I actually love and wear has got to be The Caterpillar.

New Orleans is my holy grail honeysuckle scent, too!

Death Cap smells extremely mushroomy and earthy to me. And Tarot: Temperance has a very green-outdoorsy field scent, like the dandelion note in Roadhouse if you have tried that.

Well, I hope you all have noticed this is a very liberal area of the forum when it comes to duplicate topics - since most posts are uniquely tailored for one person's requests, I usually just watch for duplicates of things like a commercial perfume smell-alikes, recommendations for a single note like vanilla or lavender or rose, etc. And I think the majority of topics here are started by brand-new forumites and we're always lenient with people who are learning the ropes. Nerd that I am... I went through my Word document of scents with descriptions because I knew I could search for "ivy" there. In addition to Litha, The Black Tower, and The Ghost, the following all included ivy in the list of notes: Dissipation - Strands of bacchanal ivy wind through sweet wormwood, pungent poppy, and a sliver of murky sassafras. Harvest Moon 2004 : The autumnal blooms of clematis, chrysanthemum, narcissus, sunflower, sage and lily twined with Dionysus’ sacred grapes and ivy, a bounty of apple, pumpkin, and ripe berries, and the amaranth and lingum aloes of Janus, all touched by a gentle breath of festival woodsmoke and sweet wine. Harvest Moon 2005: The autumnal scents of gladiola, chrysanthemum, aster, dahlia, anemone, bergamot, marigold, sage and verbena dust a blend of wine-soaked apples, plums, and red pears, mulling spices and brown sugar, the ivy leaves of Dionysus and Janus’ amaranth and lingum aloe. Mabon: The Autumnal Equinox. The Second Harvest of the witches: a celebration of rest after labor, and repose after the rigors of Initiation. This is the mark of the completion of the Harvest and giving thanks for the previous season's abundance. In ceremonial magick, this is a time to begin the search for one's Higher Self anew, to celebrate rebirth and new life, and to revitalize the spirit. It is an Osirian time, contractive and catabolic. At this time, the Eleusinian mysteries were observed, celebrating the drama of Kore and Demeter. Blackberry wine and apple cider with hops, apple blossom, English ivy, hazel, sage, oak bark and myrrh Ophelia: Wistful and vulnerable: lotus, water blossom ivy, stargazer lily and white rose. Pumpkin Patch 5: Pumpkin with five woods, English ivy and galangal root. I'm sure that one of the green smelling blends is probably the best match for the pure scent of ivy when it comes down to it, but that's a more complicated project for me.

Although the forum search engine wouldn't pick up "ivy" because of the four-letter minimum thing *trouts search engine* believe it or not, I have read this entire subforum. And we haven't covered this! I need to go through and revisit a lot of my super-green scents and figure out which ones remind me the most of ivy if I am going to contribute anything of meaning to this conversation. My house is surrounded by ivy so I am very familiar with the scent of real ivy - it's quite distinctive. You don't really smell it until you walk through it, cut some of it, let the dog in after he's been running through it... It's very green and a little sharp, something I wouldn't really like alone. I remember Dissipation (long discontinued) listed ivy as a note, but it was overwhelmingly sassafras on me.