BPAL blends that remind us of Chanel perfumes

[Rocky_Mountain_Home]

Hi all! I am new to BPAL, having recently stumbled onto an auction on eBay that piqued my curiosity about this site. So, now here I sit, having lurked on the boards for the past couple of weeks, and am desperately try to decide which Imps to order! I am a total perfume/fragrance/smell-good-stuff junkie!

 

I absolutely ADORE Chanel No. 19. It comes across as a very clean scent to me, without being soapy, and has a very leathery base, coming across as 'green' in my mind. I always think 'green & leathery' (somehow, when you say that out loud it just doesn't sound right, huh? HEHE!) when I smell it. At least that's what my nose picks up, though I wouldn't say I have a highly trained nose when it comes to singling out notes, or even aptly describing fragrances.

 

Anyhoo...does anybody out there know if BPAL has a scent that is similiar to Chanel No. 19? I'd love recommendations!

 

I also tend to really enjoy woody, spicy, almost masculine scents. One of my favorites (I'm probably about to totally embarrass myself here ) is Tabu by Dana Perfumes, it's been around forever. There, now I've said it & I'm out of the closet. HEHE! I just love that warm, spicy, musky kind of feel & my husband absolutely loves it on me. It's the only one (aside from 'Coco' by Chanel) that he ever comments on when I wear it! I'm not sure what notes Tabu contains, if anybody out there can single them out for me & tell me whether BPAL has a similar blend that would be greatly appreciated as well.

 

I do enjoy florals, but not sickly sweet, cloying, old-lady florals. I like musky, earthy, rich, spicy florals. I want to love Rose florals so badly that it hurts, though I have a tough time finding ones that just aren't too 'grandma' florally on me. I don't tend to like food smells for the most part, somehow putting something on myself that smells like food just doesn't seem right in my mind. Go figure.

 

Also, I've always thought that I hated lavender, maybe because I've never had the opportunity to experience a 'good' lavender frangrance, until I recently recieved a set of 3 different fragrance oil blends & one of them happened to be a lavender & vetiver (I'd never experienced vetiver before) blend that I've ended up adoring...surprise surprise. I use to think that Lavender gave me a headache, now I think perhaps it was something else that was mixed in with a lavender based fragrance that was the problem.

 

So far, my 'Imps to order' list includes:

 

Dragon's Heart

Old New Orleans

Old Glasgow

Spellbound

Scorpio

Dragon's Blood

Egyptian Amber (single note)

De Sade

Tiger Lily

The Caterpillar

Queen Mab

 

Imps to POSSIBLY order:

 

Ouija

Rapture

Dragon's Eye

Bayou

Love Me

Twilight

Old Amsterdam

 

Now that I've rattled on entirely too long here & made myself look like a wee bit of a fruit, thanks for reading my post. Can't wait for suggestions!

 

Edited September 7, 2004 by Rocky_Mountain_Home

[Ina Garten Davita]

Welcome welcome.

 

Your order list looks really good, there are some surefire winners on the list. I Love Me, Queen Mab, The Caterpillar, Dragon's Heart, Old New Orleans.

 

Beth has something for everyone, but the hard part is narrowing the choices down to fit in the budget.

 

If you read my review of Spellbound you'd have seen that I compared it to Tabu.

[allamanda]

Once upon a time Chanel No. 19 and Coco were staples for me, along with Diorella.

 

BPAL-wise I love:

 

Dragon's Heart

Old Glasgow

Spellbound

Dragon's Blood

Queen Mab (this ties as top favourite along with Snake Oil)

 

Of the others on your list; Twilight, Dragon's Eye and The Caterpillar don't work with my skin chemistry (I can't wear Chanel 5 either).

 

Ouija is nice, but I haven't worn it enough to really comment and the others I haven't tried yet.

 

Oils not on your list that I can't be without:

 

Snake Oil

Dragon's Milk (this is just behind Snake Oil & Queen Mab on my loves)

Hemlock (whilst not the same as Ch 19, it has a similar feel although not quite as soft. I applied them side by side on my arm, unfortunately my Ch 19 is 20+ years old)

Kali

Pele

Blood Rose

Szepasszony

Kumiho (this is very green on me, I think you would like it)

 

 

 

The description for Chanel 19 is:

 

Floral-Green

 

Top Notes: Greens, galbanum, bergamot

Heart Notes: Jasmine, May rose, iris, ylang-ylang

Base Notes: Sandalwood, oakmoss, vetiver

 

A search leads me to suggest trying Taurus, I haven't tried it yet but will now!!

 

Taurus - oakmoss, rose, sandalwood, ylang ylang

 

One thing I have learnt since trying BPAL is not to write anything off. Although I can now make a reasonable prediction about what I will like, I still sometimes fall in love with oils I thought I would hate. Plenty to try

 

I reckon you are going to have fun here.

 

I forgot!!!

 

Welcome to the madness.

Edited September 7, 2004 by allamanda

[heartbeast]

Oooh! Rocky, some folks around here have found their "BPAL twin"--someone who shares their tastes and their body chemistry's reaction to various notes, so they can read each other's reviews and get an idea of what they'll like. You may be mine! It sounds like we have very similar tastes, but the real test would be whether scents react the same way on our bodies.

 

I was also a big fan of classic couture perfumes--still am, but now I rarely wear them --until I discovered BPAL. This site http://www.parfumsraffy.com/notes.html is very helpful for finding the notes of those perfumes, then you can play with the BPAL search engine!

 

For rich florals, I recommend Wanda (leather!), Ouija (it and Queen Mab are the only two on your list that I've tried, and sadly Queen Mab didn't work for me, though most people love it), Old Sybaris, and Viola. I'd really be interested in how your chemistry reacts with Juliet; most people report the innocent light floral one might expect, but on me the lilies and the musk interact in a way that gives the scent a very rich, deep note. It's my favorite! Another one to try would be The Red Queen; it's fruit and not floral, but the woods interact with the fruit smells the same way they interact with the florals in Ouija, so the overall effect--sweet up top, rich and woody on the bottom--is similar.

 

On that note (heh), I think of myself as not enjoying foody smells either, but many of my favorite notes are food notes--it's just that my nose (or maybe just my brain) can smell a difference between "fragrance-grade" and "food-grade" cucumber, vanilla, fruit, honey, etc. Beth generally nails it. I haven't tried any of the BPAL chocolate scents, and the only one on my wish list is Kali, though I'll try any BPAL. The foodiest scent I wear on a regular basis is Katharina.

 

You might also like Serpent's Kiss and Incantation. They're my two favorite "spicy-almost-masculine" blends. The vetiver in Incantation is lovely.

 

Sadly, the rose scent I would have recommended to you--Black Widow--has been discontinued. You may be able to find some among the giddy swappers hereabouts. I also hear that Lilith is very similar.

 

Welcome to our craziness; I'm sure you will enjoy yourself very much!

[Rocky_Mountain_Home]

Thanks so much to everybody who's responded to my post. You guys are all so kind to share your thoughts with me!

 

Heartbeast...we do sound so similar in our fragrance choices! Thanks for the link to check out the fragrance notes, no wonder I love that old Tabu so much...every single note in it is something I love! (Rich rose, orange blossom, jasmine, vetiver, oakmoss, amber and musk). Though I didn't realize it until just this moment that it must be the vetiver that comes across to me so strong in the Chanel 19...after smelling it again in the Lavender/Vetiver blend I mentioned in my original post it jumps right out at me, I just hadn't even thought of it in those terms til I saw that Vetiver is in the Chanel 19. You learn something new every single day!

 

Allamanda, I find it very encouraging to see that several of my choices made your list of BPAL staples! Especially since you were a big fan of Chanel 19 & Coco both. Interestingly enough, I can wear Chanel 5 only if it is the pure parfum, or eau de parfum. If I try to wear the eau de toillette it goes completely SKUNKY on me! ICK! I love the eau de parfum & pure parfum in the bottle & on, but the eau de toillette just gags me. So much so that it actually turned me off to No. 5 for a very long time. Only recently have I ordered a tiny little mini bottle of it once again to try it. I'm just so excited that I found BPAL! I'm doing the little happy dance right now! Though I have to say that I am slightly dizzy at the size that my 'to order' list has grown to in such a short time!!

 

Thanks again to all of you for responding & I appreciate the warm welcome! I can't wait to get started, though I've got so many I want to try that I don't know where to start! It does look like I'm gonna have to try the Snake Oil, from what I've seen on the site it seems to be the overwhelming favorite of many!

 

Thanks again guys, looks like I'm gonna have a ton of fun here!

[Rocky_Mountain_Home]

Ok...I finally made my decisions & placed my order this morning! I'm so excited, I can't wait to try these!

 

Here's the list:

 

Dragon's Heart

Old Glasgow

Spellbound

Dragon's Blood

Scorpio

Old New Orleans

Tiger Lily

The Caterpillar

De Sade (had my hottie cowboy hubbie in mind on this one!)

Loviatar

Queen Mab

Ouija

 

I'll definitely let you guys know what I think when the order arrives...now it's all over but the waitin'.....

[Mystic Moon]

I did a search & couldn't find anything real specific to this already posted, so I apologize if it has been addressed elsewhere for another.

 

I ADORE Coco by Chanel (not Coco Mademoiselle) & would love to find a BPAL oil that is similar in fragrance. This is a favorite "cool weather" scent for me. A bit heavy in the summer.

 

I also love Chanel No 19 - more of a spring scent for me - it smells very "green" & clean to me, with some leather & wood in there, though I couldn't tell you for sure what's in it. I love perfumes but I'm sure not well-versed in them & their contents!

 

Right now, I've been wearing Dragon's Heart. It was an imp that came with my original order many many many moons ago & I just didn't care for it when I sniffed the imp so I never even tried it. I grabbed it by mistake one morning (meant to grab Queen Mab - don't even ask how I confused the two - it was dark, ok? ) the wand had no sooner touched my cleavage than I knew it was not Queen Mab in my grasp....but what was that heavenly scent? "Dragon's Heart! Dragon's Heart?!? But I don't even LIKE Dragon's Heart!"

 

I've been in love ever since.

 

I tend to really like warm/spicy/woodsy kind of scents - or at least that's how I'd describe them in my mind.

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

[Mountaingrrl00]

Shroud looks like it has similar notes to Chanel No. 19. Vicomte de Valmont might also work.

[Capriquarius]

Well, I did a search and came up with these descriptions of the Chanel scents you mention (which, incidentally, I also love!):

 

Chanel No. 19- "A rich blend of green floral wood notes, jasmine, rose, iris, ylang ylang, sandalwood and mosses."

 

Coco Chanel- "built on a major amber-y chord, adorned with flowers, warmed with wood and leather."

 

I think based on what you like so far you might want to try some of the following scents--

 

for cold weather: Bastet, Loviatar, Haunted, Brinsingamen, The Lion, Black Lotus, or Baghdad...

 

for warm weather: Belladonna, Bayou, Hamadryad, Namaste?

 

Good luck!

[greywind]

I tend to really like warm/spicy/woodsy kind of scents - or at least that's how I'd describe them in my mind.

 

We share that preference. I really like Baghdad, Bengal, the Lion, and Fenris Wolf myself.

[sophia_helix]

I like those types of scents myself, and also love The Lion (the others mentioned didn't work on me for a variety of reasons).

 

I know it's not BPAL, but you also might want to try Bath and Body Works' "Rose Sandalwood" essential oil. The sandalwood is like nothing I've smelled before, wonderfully warm and spicy.

 

And oops! I meant to say that I'm trying out Grandmother of Ghosts right now, and between the laurel, the lily, and the pepper, it's hitting all my happy notes.

Edited January 4, 2006 by sophia_helix

[foxroses]

you might like jacob's ladder, if you hurry and grab it. it's a very amber-y sweet golden scent

[lookingglass]

Maybe Aeval, Eve, and Golden Priapus would be worth a try.

[Mystic Moon]

Thanks for all the wonderful suggestions, guys. I'm working on some swaps/sales right now, so I'll have to try for some Imps of some of these.

 

Thanks again!

Mystic

[mermaiden]

Thanks for all the wonderful suggestions, guys. I'm working on some swaps/sales right now, so I'll have to try for some Imps of some of these.

 

I would be very curious as to your impressions on these comparisons.

 

I adore Chanel No. 19 and Coco.

No. 19 reminds me so much of a best friend I had in my early 20's (it smelled great on her, but different than it did on me because of body chemistry, and the fact that we smoked different brands of cigarettes.)

 

It smelled different, but still great on me even after I quit smoking.

 

The notes I recall in No. 19 were primarily green and fresh. I smelled mossy/grassy notes, something sharp and almost "soapy", and a very nice soft rose. If there was any jasmine at all in there, it was well tempered by the woody elements. I would say there's white sandalwood in there.

 

The notes I remember in Coco were clove, musk, cinnamon, and amber. Similar to Shalimar, but not as flowery.

 

I've been looking for a combination of rose elements and grassy/green/woodsy elements in a fragrance for a long time.

Edited February 14, 2006 by mermaiden

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

Chanel 19 reminds me of La Belle Dame Sans Merci--they are both just so *green* on me. Lots of good suggestions already in this thread! I can definitely see Haunted appealing to a Coco lover; they both feel warm but so, so sophisticated. Velvet feels that way, too, even though the notes are so different--a dry cocoa with a rich cream.

[a_voracious_mind]

In the past I was positively addicted to Baby Doll by Yves Saint Laurent but at the time I was around 16 and now that I'm in college...that "baby prostitute" smell just doesn't have quite the same reaction. The closest thing to Baby Doll with a grown up edge that I have found is Mademoiselle and now I'm looking for something similar from BPAL. Maybe a little more...seductive rather than flirty? My perfume has gone from innocent to mature and I think that next step would be going from smelling sweetly passive to femininely aggressive.

[purplegirl]

Hi there

 

I've been wearing a bit of everything lately - a foody scent one day, a floral the next, something wintery and chilly after that - but I tried out an imp of Black Hellebore and it was a nice, feminite scent that was still a bit assertive....

 

The Evening Star is bloody GORGEOUS, but it's been put to bed now, but if you come across it, definitely worth a try. I'm wearing it right now (speak of the devil!) and my husband said it was really feminine but sexy... considering he normally just sort of smiles and nods when asked what he thinks of a BPAL scent, this was very encouraging!!!

 

Good luck!!!

lisa

 

 

In the past I was positively addicted to Baby Doll by Yves Saint Laurent but at the time I was around 16 and now that I'm in college...that "baby prostitute" smell just doesn't have quite the same reaction. The closest thing to Baby Doll with a grown up edge that I have found is Mademoiselle and now I'm looking for something similar from BPAL. Maybe a little more...seductive rather than flirty? My perfume has gone from innocent to mature and I think that next step would be going from smelling sweetly passive to femininely aggressive.

[innerellipse]

I used to love BabyDoll when I was younger too and liked the sound of Chanel's Mademoiselle as an older alternative (although it was a little expensive so I never actually got around to buying it) so we probably have the same-ish scent tastes.

 

Of the ones I've tried, I'm currently most wild about (on the fruity/citrusy/ but a bit spicy side of things) Carnal, Aizen-Myoo, Blood Countess, Bordello (but it's a bit sweet for every day). Aizen-Myoo and Carnal both start out straight sweet citrusy and flirty like Babydoll but dry down to this gorgeous richness.

 

Others I've liked in different scent families that I would consider "seductive" and aggressively feminine are White Rabbit (sparkling spiced honey on me), Eden, Vice, Perversion, O and Snake Oil. Hope you find something you like in that lot!

 

I especially especially recommend Carnal, it's been heavily used ever since I received the imp a couple weeks ago. The mandarin makes it bright and pretty, the fig makes it sensual and warm and womanly. Yum.

[thyme]

The logical next step is to make everyone around me love BPAL just as much as I do. My boyfriend has shown interest and patiently sniffed my arm about a billion times, but he's also securely wedded to his Antaeus. Although he did like F5. But that's mine

So, is there a BPAL that's similar to Antaeus? Apparently it is: "A warm woody fragrance with notes of Sage, Patchouli and Labdanum" and the specific makup is allegedly:

Top notes: Clary Sage, Myrtle
Middle Notes: Patchouli, Sandalwood
Base Notes: Labdanum, Beeswax Absolute

I have also seen it described as: "Fragrance notes: citrus, chypre, dry wood, cedar."

All suggestions gratefully received!

Edited August 19, 2017 by thyme

[ajcj213499]

My only idea would be Fenris Wolf: The raw, untamable power of chaos. Rosewood, amber, red musk and a dribble of red sandalwood.

 

Patchouli and Labdanum are really bad notes on me, so I don't really have any rec's for those...

 

[fiddledragon]

I'd recommend Fenris Wolf, Anne Bonny, and possibly Lear. If he doesn't mind smelling rosey, maybe Rakshasa. I haven't tried it, but if Luperci comes around again this February, it sounds like a good bet as well.

[Torrilin]

I'd just give thanks that he likes a well constructed scent . Antaeus is a classic for guys. It uses a lot of kinda unusual notes, so it might be hard to find something. If you can tell what notes are most prominent when he wears it, I'd start there.

 

It sounds rather like Death On A Pale Horse or maybe Morocco could work. But if he's not getting a lot of sandalwood out of it, I'm probably on crack.

[lookingglass]

Labdanum is ambery so...he might like Golden Priappus.

[thyme]

I'd just give thanks that he likes a well constructed scent . Antaeus is a classic for guys.

 

 

You're right, it's a lovely scent and it smells good on him, but it's just so complicated! My uneducated sniffer simply can't tell the notes apart. I think I get the patchouli and the sage a lot, and possibly the cedar too but there's another note in it that I can't distinguish. It might well be the labdanum.

 

Thanks for all the ideas, guys, it's much appreciated...from randomly searching for the notes in Antaeus I've come up with the following list:

 

Lear (as suggested above!)

Lex Talionis

The Bow and Crown of Conquest

Shadow

The Scales of Deprivation

 

 

I'll probably head off to Swaps now to try and collar a few of them... Keep the suggestions coming, though!