Old books... Books, paper, libraries

[annemathematics]

Where is the love for The Book!? It's brilliant, hauntingly lovely, and spot on!

 

 

I have never sniffed it! although it might be in my future if my luper decants don't inspire any bottle needs. I'm wanting a bookish companion to picture books in winter and was deciding between the book and buggre all bible. monster was kind enough to death match buggre and lurid library.

 

if you were able to compare a bit between book and PBIW, or book and buggre, or merely sing the many praises of book beyond what's on the review page, I promise to geek out and re-read it several times.

[annemathematics]

Hello, fellow book lover!

 

I can unfortunately only comment on The Lurid Library, but I would also be very interested in any insight others can provide on the other book scents annemathematics listed!

I was expecting a decant of The Book from a forumite, but I fear it has been lost in the mail....

 

The Lurid Library, to me, is a very pure paper scent, a little smoky perhaps. It's heavy on the dust, anyway. It's more a book scent than Picture Books in Winter, which on me was mostly caramel with a sub-note of leatherbound books.

 

As a side note, there is also Aziraphale, which I haven't tried yet either, but from the notes listed it sounds like a nice book scent, too: Ethereal musk, blonde woods, and dusty Bible accord.

 

 

if you clock over to post #441 in death matching http://www.bpal.org/topic/65148-death-matchin/page__st__425 you can read monster's excellent compare contrast of lurid and buggre. she makes them both sound tempting.

[Ffenics]

My perfect book scent right now is Misk U but, here's the thing....

 

I have an imp (unknown age) of Miskatonic University and it smells exactly like dusty old books (I have a storeroom full of them at work so I got to do the side-by-side compare lol). The thing is, I get almost zero coffee from it (Just a little at the edge of a dusty sweetness that is the old paper smell to me) so I'm wondering if it's a batch variation or if my nose is just assigning scents oddly. Also the imp looks pretty fresh but might be really old? Does anybody know if aged Misk U brings the books to the fore? If so, awesome, my quest for aged Misk U starts as sometimes I want to smell like I just rolled in a library!

 

I'm considering chucking a lab fresh imp into my next order to check, or asking my friend to bring her hubby's imp along with her when she visits! It could just be my defective nose, but it's not skin chem as it smells the same in the imp

[annemathematics]

My perfect book scent right now is Misk U but, here's the thing....

 

I have an imp (unknown age) of Miskatonic University and it smells exactly like dusty old books (I have a storeroom full of them at work so I got to do the side-by-side compare lol). The thing is, I get almost zero coffee from it (Just a little at the edge of a dusty sweetness that is the old paper smell to me) so I'm wondering if it's a batch variation or if my nose is just assigning scents oddly. Also the imp looks pretty fresh but might be really old? Does anybody know if aged Misk U brings the books to the fore? If so, awesome, my quest for aged Misk U starts as sometimes I want to smell like I just rolled in a library!

 

I'm considering chucking a lab fresh imp into my next order to check, or asking my friend to bring her hubby's imp along with her when she visits! It could just be my defective nose, but it's not skin chem as it smells the same in the imp

 

 

I've only ever tried a fresh frimp of misk u, and it was all boozy coffee with oak on me and in my frimp.

[annemathematics]

And now we have the gatekeeper!

 

Has anyone tried this scent that could compare/ contrast it to other book scents?

[Aviatrix]

How about Protagoras? I haven't sniffed it, but the description makes it sound vaguely bookish...

[PixieSkull]

 

Hello, fellow book lover!

 

I can unfortunately only comment on The Lurid Library, but I would also be very interested in any insight others can provide on the other book scents annemathematics listed!

I was expecting a decant of The Book from a forumite, but I fear it has been lost in the mail....

 

The Lurid Library, to me, is a very pure paper scent, a little smoky perhaps. It's heavy on the dust, anyway. It's more a book scent than Picture Books in Winter, which on me was mostly caramel with a sub-note of leatherbound books.

 

As a side note, there is also Aziraphale, which I haven't tried yet either, but from the notes listed it sounds like a nice book scent, too: Ethereal musk, blonde woods, and dusty Bible accord.

 

if you clock over to post #441 in death matching http://www.bpal.org/topic/65148-death-matchin/page__st__425 you can read monster's excellent compare contrast of lurid and buggre. she makes them both sound tempting.

 

 

That didn't help me decide! Very good comparison, though. Definitely more interested in Buggre, I think my husband wouldn't mind it.

[Scarlet Woodland]

Trying to decide the next book scent to try... Have had Buggre Alle This Bible for a while and it's so promising but just turns to a cedar palooza on me. I might have to pass it on to my dad for christmas as the story will tickle him too

 

Misk U is crazy sweet, boozy coffee on me so that's a nope but there are still quite a few to choose from. Will definitely grab an imp of Dee now it's back but also tempted to try Philologus, Azriphale & Paranorman's The Book. Just wish they were impable too as fear they may turn straight up woods on me too. Has anyone else had wood amping probs with book scents?

 

ETA: Sorry dad, just tried layering The Buggre Alle This Bible with Scherezade and it smells like the ultimate, ancient grimoire so it's staying with me

Edited November 2, 2016 by Scarlet Woodland

[LizziesLuck]

Library of John Dee is awesome! The first bookish type scent that I have truly loved.

[Lunasariel]

Library of John Dee is awesome! The first bookish type scent that I have truly loved.

 

I agree! It started out very beeswax/rose-heavy on me (which is lovely, but not what I wanted), but settled down into the most wonderful old-paper-and-leather scent.

[starbrow]

Two of the 2018 Lupercalias strike me as bookish scents:

 

Dalliances by Candlelight: Beeswax, white patchouli, and honey.

This one was way too strong on the white patchouli on my skin, but if that doesn't dominate, the beeswax is pretty prominent too.

 

A Silhouette: Yellowing parchment and lampblack, a drop of lilac, a smear of labdanum, and a splash of white musk.

Really lovely, a very quiet scent with low throw but long wear. It gives the impression of beeswax too, with the lampblack (India ink) and parchment kind of a mellow background and the lilac offering just a touch of floral without being sweet the way honey/beeswax is. I wish this one had more throw, but the more I wear it, the more I am taken with it.

[VetchVesper]

How is The Manuscript not on this list?! Probably pretty hard to get, but you can smell the ink on the pages! Really intriguing.

 

Also, Jolabokaflod is a lovely leather bound volume with a dusting of chocolate, and I still see that up for trade on occasion.

 

As far as GC's go, Aelopile makes me think of the way an old Victorian library would smell, clean and paneled in lemon oiled wood, and The Red Queen reminds me of an antique shop, but I could see it going library. The wood notes were more prominent on me than the cherry.

 

Lastly, The Writing on the Slate, though technically not a book scent, certainly brings bookishness to mind with it's dust, chalk, and candle wax.

 

This thread needs more love!

[Lucchesa]

The Book from ParaNorman has been mentioned, but there's also The Book, a Fleurette's Purple Snails 2016 Luper. Brown leather, tonka, vanilla bourbon tar, and a thin whiff of rose

 

And did Scholar's Tower get a mention? Gleaming amber spheres, polished cedar and mahogany, sweet parchment, inks of frankincense ash, and soft plumes of incense

 

I love this category of scents, but they nearly all get swallowed up immediately on my skin; Buggre All This Bible barely bothered to put in an appearance. I wanted to love it so much!

[ziggystardust13]

Old Moon falls into this category for me and its one of my favorite scents. I love wearing it at night especially.

[Missanneshirleyofgg]

This discussion is so cozy. This discussion makes me feel like I am reading old books.

 

i am waiting to receive a couple bookish scents in the mail. I have bpal svarta fönix bókaflóð (A warm cup of chai, the purr of a bookstore cat, and a roaring fireplace nestled in a library, with books of every size, shape, age, and genre resting on the polished mahogany shelves.) and it definitely has a library vibe, but a touch cologne to me. Still, it's very cozy, the mahogany note adds something rich to the background that I am loving. 

[sprout]

OLLA Kit reminds me of libraries and books.  It's like sitting in the corner of the library with old books and a shaft of pale sunlight illuminating the dust motes...

[Missanneshirleyofgg]

Jolabokaflod (Jólabókaflóðið: A dribble of candle wax, distant hearth-smoke, a fleck of chocolate Yule log, and aged, yellowing paper bound by well-loved leather that has passed through many gentle hands.) arrived in the mail yesterday and since our climate is mild right now, I tested that evening. 

 

It is definitely a good book scent. I used to be active in Paperback Swap, and the lovely scent of receiving someone's treasured hardback book and settling down to read a cozy mystery while my children were napping has so many good feels for me. This is gently and lovingly blended, it is as if a librarian stirred the Dewey decimal system into a cauldron Over a little hearth. I think for me this is a sleep scent, and since I like to read at bedtime, will be just as loved as an old book. 

[VetchVesper]

Thought this was a fun read and quite apropos for this thread.

https://www.popsci.com/old-book-smell

[Lucchesa]

On 3/6/2019 at 11:35 AM, VetchVesper said:

Thought this was a fun read and quite apropos for this thread.

https://www.popsci.com/old-book-smell

Awesome article -- thanks, VV!

[mountainwitch]

I've been looking for a good book scent for years. Here's my problem: almost every book scent I've tried includes leather. Leather tomes, leather chairs, etc. As much as I love a good leather smell, I just want to smell like old paperbacks . . . That wonderful smell of crumbly pages. But every book scent I try goes leather or incense, and I've been looking for something different. 

 

Any ideas? 

[niffler]

I couldn't think of a book scent without leather off the top of my head and just went to search here on the forums, BPAL's website, Etsy, and even straight up Google thinking, "I swear I've seen one before, surely there must be one here..." No such luck. You're absolutely right @mountainwitch, they ALL seem to have incense or leather in the mix if they're "old" books. What the heckity heck?? 

 

I'll continue to keep an eye out (would love an old paperback scent myself). I think part of the problem is that the old book smell is made up of so many compounds, and people fill in the blanks with a smidge of leather or incense as the books often absorb those smells anyway... 

 

 

[feyofthefellwood]

@mountainwitch I can't think of any BPAL library scents at the moment without leather, unfortunately (though I luckily love leather + paper smells). But Moonalisa's Alexandria, while somewhat hard to obtain because of her release timeframes, is a pretty good paper scent. (Notes: Soft, woody, mossy, floral, and about 13 other components, with hints of ambergris, dry old book pages and a touch of intoxicating sweet labdanum.) I find it similar to, but lighter than, Hexxenacht's Cetalox, which Ajevie has samples of on her decant website. (Notes: a post-modern synthetic ambergris perfumery component redolent of warm skin/paper/cedarwood/ozone/pepper with an ambroxan-like background -- and to *some* -- smells like nothing at all.)

Edited May 13, 2020 by feyofthefellwood
Grammar fail

[artisjok]

Someone sent me a little tester of Possets Billet-Doux recently, “The scent of paper with a bit of perfume still lingering in it, a slight zest of the ink while it is still wet, a great deal of melting musk to say that you lover the "other" part of your heart. This is a light but tenacious fragrance, bright but musk imbued.” It’s real sweet papery musk. 

 

BPAL’s Two-Ply Bristol comes to mind, though it’s probably too fresh paper to conjure that sweet paperback scent you’re longing for...

BOOKS seemed less leather and more paper than any for me, though other reviews say otherwise. 

[mountainwitch]

On 5/12/2020 at 4:33 PM, niffler said:

I couldn't think of a book scent without leather off the top of my head and just went to search here on the forums, BPAL's website, Etsy, and even straight up Google thinking, "I swear I've seen one before, surely there must be one here..." No such luck. You're absolutely right @mountainwitch, they ALL seem to have incense or leather in the mix if they're "old" books. What the heckity heck?? 

 

I'll continue to keep an eye out (would love an old paperback scent myself). I think part of the problem is that the old book smell is made up of so many compounds, and people fill in the blanks with a smidge of leather or incense as the books often absorb those smells anyway... 

 

 

So it's not just me! I feel better, at least. Please do let me know if you find something!

 

@feyofthefellwood 
Thank you for the recommendation. I am going to look those up. I haven't tried much from either, so let's see what happens. 

@artisjok

I tried Billet-Doux when it was new; back then I thought it was more of a light, barely-there floral than a paper scent. That could be my chemistry, however. 

 

I've also tried Bristol Two-Ply, and I even tried India Ink too. WOW Bristol Two-Ply smells like paper! It's like standing in a good art store with pads and big sheets of watercolor paper. It is exactly what it says it is, but not old books. 

BOOKS was completely under my radar. I'm going to see if I can try that one. 

Thanks very much! 

Edited May 14, 2020 by mountainwitch

[VetchVesper]

What about A Woman Practicing Calligraphy on Her Lover’s Erect Member?  I haven't tried it, but no leather and people seem to smell the ink. Does this work as a bookish scent?  Anyone with first had knowledge?