ivyandpeony

I've really loved all the Soap & Glory stuff I've tried, but I haven't tried this scrub yet. I did poke around a little bit and saw that Sephora is not just selling it, they've got notes listed. Here's what they say: ". . .Soap & Glory's signature Pink Fragrance combines fresh bergamot and mandarin, rose, jasmine, peach, strawberry, oakmoss, amber, woody notes and warm vanilla musk, amber, and warm vanilla notes on the bottom." (Some of their other bath and body products feature a blend they call Mist You Much, which is bergamot, black currant, magnolia, freesia, vanilla, and musk.)

The original Devil's Night is one of my favorite BPAL scents ever - not just one of my favorite Halloween blends! The only reason the 2011 version isn't on my list is because I have several back up bottles of the original 2005. Pyewacket, I also thought about a possible similarity to 51 when I first saw the description of The Two Tailed Sogg I love 51. and lamentuese - when torn between dead leaves and pumpkin/vanilla, I would choose pumpkin/vanilla. I like the sound of The Changeling from the feedback so far - it seems like it's a less foody pumpkin scent. And leaves sometimes = vetiver, which always gives me pause.

I knew it would happen when I started the topic - I'd start adding a bunch of stuff to my list that wasn't even on my radar before! First up, The Wiley Grasser and The Gorobble! Thanks so much for all the feedback so far. As far as budget, I've been trying to winnow my list down to around 5 or 6 bottles so I can just use my PayPal balance, but I am not sure if I can make myself do it. I didn't join any decant circles this time around either. I have a love-hate relationship with decants. I love being able to try without buying a bottle but it seems like imps and decants pile up like tribbles around here and I have enough trouble keeping bigger things organized! So with many updates I will just end up waiting until reviews start rolling in. I tend to say that I'm not a foody fan and then I fall in drooling, idiotic love with something like Cake Smash, so I think I have to get Halloween: Las Vegas and Sprinklecake. But overall, I do tend to buy more BPAL scents that are a little more like traditional perfumes than the edgy or unique blends. I think I'm looking for the new The Girl with this update. I love to hear about everything, though. And I meant to add to my first post - of course this topic is open for anyone and everyone to ask questions, make recommendations and comparisons, etc. It's not my personal Halloween thread

A LOT of reviews for Elephantine Colussus mention popcorn. I don't know how easy it is to find, but I was surprised by how many people mentioned it! I searched reviews for mentions of popcorn, so here are some unexpected scents that were mentioned in reviews: Young Pine Saplings, Bogle, Gollettes, Huesos de Santos, The Snack Hut, Drink Me, Miskatonic University, Feeding The Dead, Cockaigne, Boo.

Here are some scents that other members have found similar to Yvaine - The East Under the Harvest Moon Misericordia Quicksilver Phoenix TKO Moonshine and Mist Psyche (d/c GC)

Is there any chance it could be Marshmallow Poof? When you said between Boo & Midway that immediately popped into my head.

The closest thing I can think of, as far as scents that I've personally tried, is Hell's Belle (Oleander with wet, sweet mandarin, lush magnolia, a rush of deep musk and a touch of spice). Black Dahlia's description is "Voluptuous magnolias strewn over orchid, star jasmine, black amber and smoky rose" - of those notes, I think magnolia is probably the Lab's least commonly used one, but it's similar to jasmine to my nose. So maybe take a peek at some other jasmine-rose florals.

Not that either is identical to Regan, but there are two vanilla+orchid scents are at least cousins to me - Echo and Marae. I honestly don't know how hard either one is to find on the secondary market. If you are missing Gluttony, get an imp of Cockaigne. It's been a while since I sniffed it, but it is very sweet, buttery and caramel-y. I should probably warn you that I didn't like Gluttony and I didn't like Cockaigne either, but I figured I'd throw it out there. And I happened to pick up my neglected bottle of Mania this weekend and was pretty amazed at how similar it is to Venom on me. I am sure this bottle is at least 4 or 5 years old and it didn't really strike me as that similar to Venom when it was fresh and young, so I think aging has something to do with it. I have the tiniest bit of Venom left so I even compared the two head-to-head.

My favorite powdery scent is Diabolical Offspring, from the horror movie tropes line that the Lab did for Dark Delicacies. It's still available at the store or via mail from their website (http://www.darkdel.com/index.htm?bpal.htm&1). It's desciribed as "baby sweetness and a touch of brimstone," but I don't get any brimstone whatsoever. Just a sweet skin-musky scent that's reminiscent of baby powder, but much more complex.

The one that comes to mind for me is Joyful Moon, from last summer - not a bit of fruit and a lovely crystalline, white floral feel to it. The notes are white musk, French vanilla, ambrette seed, frangipani, angelica root, white rose, orris, and honeysuckle. I remember it being very sought-after right as the reviews started pouring in, but it might be easier to acquire now. All the suggestions so far are really good, though.

that is so true! I love the smell of rice. Egg Moon reminds me of rice pudding - something I actually don't like to eat, but it smells yummy.

It's been a while since I tried How Doth... and Schrodinger's Cat - and they definitely don't have a ton of notes in common - but both are unusual chocolate-mint-when-you-least-expect-it scents.

I think you are probably fine. There are some scents that are notorious for separating - seems like a lot of them have cocoa absolute or chocolate in them. And I remember hearing that Hellhound on my Trail separates very easily too (just can't remember the notes). I think as long as your BPAL smells like it's supposed to, you don't have a problem with it going bad. I've only had one bottle that truly "went bad" on me in 7 years or so. It was The Unicorn, which is a light scent to begin with. It seemed to get even lighter really quickly and I started to smell oil instead of perfume (sniff a neutral oil like vegeteble oil, grapeseed oil, etc, if you don't know what I mean - there's an odor that all oils seem to have in common if they don't have an overwhelming natural fragrance like extra virgin oilve oil). And when an oil is becoming rancid, you can definitely smell a staleness to it. I didn't get that bottle directly from the Lab although I can't remember if I swapped for it or bought it from another forum member back in fall of 2004. So I don't know how it was cared for prior to its arrival; I also don't remember who got it from and for all I know (but didn't know then) it could have been diluted or something.

I'd contact the Lab - they can help you figure out if there's something they can do or if there's something CCNow or your bank needs to do.

White ginger, tea leaf, night blooming jasmine, neroli, rose, and lotus root. Just beautiful, this one is a little crisper and more floral than its companion perfume, which I found to be warmer and muskier. The ginger, jasmine and rose combine to make a lovely, sweet bouquet of flowers (I don't really get much neroli, but those are some assertive companions the neroli is up against). There's a lot more tea making up this scent than in the perfume, and that, along with the lotus root, gives a bright and crisp underlying element that puts it in the extended family of Asian-themed BPAL scents (although it doesn't really remind of any particular one, it's more of a general feel). It will layer beautifully with the accompanying perfume and will also make a gorgeous light perfume in and of itself.

The scent I've tried that is most reminiscent of Fresh Sugar is Lemon Scented Sticky Bat. From the descriptions/note lists alone, they may not seem similar but they are both sugary citrus on me.

I was curious about why you'd want to scent a product with perfume & apply it to your face. I wouldn't recommend that anyone do that whether it's BPAL or another perfume. There are essential oils that can be beneficial to the skin but using those isn't the same as using a product that is designed to be a scent, not a therapeutic product. You might want to apply unscented butters or lotion to your pulse points, etc. then apply your BPAL oil of choice over it. Some sensitive folks have found that it helps to have that slight barrier & it serves to dilute the oil a wee bit. Also be sure not to apply immediately following a shower/bath or exercise when your pores are open.

I'm not giving up on Biwa just yet, but our first meeting wasn't as stellar as I'd hoped. I love all the notes in this scent individually, but black currant (really, currant of any type) doesn't always work on me. It can get an odd, bitter edge, then it may or may not morph into the dreaded cat-pee effect. And dammit if that's not what it did to me here. Or tried to do, at least. It wasn't the worst example of currant-gone-wrong I could give you (I think that would be Knave of Hearts), but it definitely marred the delicious honey and tangerine that were battling it. When I have a disappointment, I always try the scent again at least once and I will definitely do that with Biwa. There are certain times from month to month that my chemistry seems to go a little sharp & that's what could have been happening here. If currant gives you caution, I'd recommend you skin test this one, but otherwise it has the potential to be beautiful.

So, different skins & different noses we all have - I don't smell cream or detect the cream note in this one at all. In the bottle and for about the first 45 min. or so, there's lots and lots of ginger. It's a fresh, bright ginger as opposed to a candied ginger (think Mother Ginger or Sudha Segara ginger vs. Gingerbread Poppet). I'm surprised there isn't pink pepper listed because in this stage, it's what it reminds me of - that spiciness in Hermia or Pepper or Lovestruck Teenage Cannibal. Maybe this is the combo of the ginger + clove that my nose is just reading as similar to pink pepper. Anyway, I like the wet stage even though this spice is acting a little pushy on me, but the drydown? Oh, my, it is delicious. For once I am not amping clove & I get this beautiful spiced honey that's not like any other BPAL I have tried. In this stage it's almost like candied ginger, a sprinkling of clove and a honey that is creamy (as opposed to sharp or crystalline) but doesn't smell like cream. I agree with the chai latte & rice pudding comparisons. A comparison to some scents I thought this might resemble before actually trying it - Bengal is much hotter in feel because of its cinnamon. And when cream is listed as a note, I expect that distinctly dairy cream note that's in Castitas bath oil, but here I don't get that at all. Seems like the cream is just there to kind of soften the edges and hold the other components together.

I didn't really know anything about tea olive or what it is - but I went to Wikipedia, and it is apparently an osmanthus species. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_Olive So osmanthus scents might be your key to finding something. Here are a few that have osmanthus as a note & are on the lighter end of the spectrum (since the clean quality of the flowers appeals to you): LEs: Festival Mask Sanctus Shirafuji Genta With a Kappa Clytie White Phoenix GC: Brusque Violet Belle Vinu Jasmine Cottage Utrennyaya The Ghost Cordelia Salon: Sunrise with Sea-Monsters Itasô Kansei Nenkan Jorô No Fûzoku Comments in the reviews of Tzadikim Nistarim & House of Night also mention osmanthus although it isn't a listed note.

Are you in California, bluerose? I'm wondering if there's been some sort of CCNow software update that is adding the tax. Either way, I can't imagine that the Lab would quietly change their policy for CA customers without some sort of announcement explaining it - that's not their style. I would definitely let customer service know so they can look into it.

medievalmaniac - there's an thread here about scenting lotion, body oils & such with your BPAL. Lots of comments & advice.

I tend to not only amp sage, but it turns to a weird, rubbery, old school Band-Aid scent on my skin. So I can at least tell you what blends were the sagiest on me, even if they weren't things that actually worked in the long run. Morella was a blend that was DC'ed in 2004 but resurrected during one of the Poe series - it was definitely the sagiest thing I have ever tried. From the GC, Lear & Robin Goodfellow both had a hit (as opposed to a hint) of sage for me. Green Phoenix, Sagittarius & the original Mabon (I didn't try the 2010 version, but the notes are the same) and the GC Aeval also amped up the sage for me. I agree with emzebel - Corazon has a really strong, true sage note too. It can be hard to find, but you never know when you're going to stumble on something. There are blends I can wear with sage as a component, but I think it's because everything else dominates &/or there's just a tiny bit to give a dusty feel or to temper sweetness. So I'll skip those for the sake of this discussion.

When I think of creamy citrus, Cheshire Moon comes to mind, although the notes (lunar herbs and blossoms, with lemongrass, guava, pink grapefruit, banyan fruit, hibiscus, and cherry blossom) might not lead you to expect that. Vampire Tears also gives that effect on me, although you could say the same thing about its notes too (wisteria, white grapefruit, neroli, green tea, jasmine, white ginger, honeysuckle, iris, and tonka). Sorry I can't think of a good GC that might fit the bill, but I will definitely post if I do!

No problem, Captain Echhi - they really weren't dupes IMO since each person who'd started a topic was asking for a specific type of sage (white sage, clary sage, then your thread). But I figured one thread would work better since it's the same plant family, there aren't tons of scents (as opposed to notes like rose or vanilla), searches would be easier, that sort of thing. I posted some search tips just a month or two in FAQ - here if you'd like to take a look at it & see if it's helpful. And I am always happy to help anyone who is having issues with the search engine or just wants a helping hand with a search.