Best BPAL blends without floral notes

[stardust]

Hi. So, I'm new to BPAL and scents in general. I got my first batch of imps, and many of them smell more like...perfume than a mix of essential oils, like I had expected. Less "organic," more sophisticated. If that makes any sense.

 

Anyways, I think that the culprit might be the floral notes. So, in an effort to figure out what I might like...would any non-floral fans like to post their favorite scents? Pretty please?

 

Thanks! I'm looking into woody, spicy scents, as well as clean, citrusy ones. I've got a looong list of 'em, so I'm wondering which are favorites.

[Nadirah]

Loviatar is my favorite. You might want to try Hellfire too!

[asa805]

Here are bunch of my non floral faves:

 

Three witches (real true cinnamon and clove scent - smells like pottery barn during the holidays)

Hollywood Bablyon - (sweet vanilla and strawberries)

Scherezade - (mid east spices - very commanding - always get compliments)

Snake Oil - (a very sexy demanding scent)

O (smells like cookies, some people think it smells like sex )

Tamora (peachy and amber and vanilla - gorgeous creation)

Alice (slight rose scent but mostly milky creamy sweet scent)

Scheppezany (very clean smelling on me - ozone and air)

Namaste (lemongrass and woods - very calming)

Chimera: (cinnamon cookies - yummy )

Dragons Milk: (dragons blood resin and vanilla - very sweet concoction)

Hellcat: (smells like mulled cider to me - a very conforting scent - and strong!)

 

Oh and you might like Namaste: (lemongrass and woods)

 

umm theres more but i cant think of them right no w.

 

good luck.

Edited October 11, 2004 by asa805

[pekeana]

Some of my favorite BPALs have florals in them, but the florals aren't the dominant notes on me.

 

My favorites right now are:

 

Snow White [last year's Yule LE]: a little minty, a little vanilla, a little floral, a lot clean and sweet.

 

Gingerbread Poppet [last year's Yule LE]: straight up gingerbread cookies.

 

Old Morocco: A lot of musk and sandalwood with a little spice and carnation to twist it up and even it out.

 

Xiuhtecuhtli: Oranges with incense and just a tiny bit of plumeria to sweeten it up. [On me, it's incense and orange peel, yum]

 

Three Witches: A 'gasmic blend of cinnamon, clove, and pepper.

 

Sudha Segara: A little sweet, a little spicy, no floral at all.

[Eris]

I guess I should put in a plug for my beloved Penitence here. It's frankincense and myrrh but comes across as very woody, resiny, and incensy on me. A little churchish, but in a good way. I love it.

 

Hymn is similar, but it has rose and might be too floraly for you. I'm currently waiting on some other similar resiny/incense/churchy blends (All Saints, Damnation, and Cathedral), so they might be able to join the ranks soon too.

[hypothermya]

As a rule, I really can't stand florals. So...here are my favorites:

 

Katharina -- really just smells like apricot and musk and sweetness... Very bright, uplifting oil.

 

Whitechapel -- has some floral in it, but mostly light musk and lime and citron

 

Embalming Fluid -- lemony, smooth, cool, aloe goodness.

 

Scherezade -- very red, sensual, musky, deserty sexiness.

 

Voodoo -- hard to describe, but foody and woodsy all at the same time.

 

The World -- smells very complex, but mainly like earth and trees and cinnamon.

 

Bewitched -- the perfect amount of berry, musk, wood, and spice all mixed together.

 

...There are others, but they all tend towards the more floral side. Among them are: Phantasm, Venom, Kali, Wanda, and Yuki-Onna.

[sarahmarie]

I am Ms. Bad Luck With Florals, so I have some ideas for you

 

Wrath (Sin and Salvation) - A scent aflame with rage, swirling in the red haze of hatred: dragon's blood spiked with black pepper, clove, and cinnamon.

 

Wrath is, I think, my favorite BPAL scent. It's really spicey and warm, and quite cinnamony. Mmm.

 

I also really like Alecto and Tzadikim Nistarim from the Sin and Salvation section.

 

In Bewitching Brews, I've had good luck with:

 

Swank

Blood Amber

Eidolon

Intrigue

Kali (despite the floral notes - this one isn't very floral on me at all)

 

 

In Love Potions:

 

Aizen-Myoo

Bordello

Kabuki

Harlot (despite the rose, oddly)

 

Mad Tea Party:

The Red Queen

 

Illyria:

Lady MacBeth

 

Wanderlust:

Old Kathmandu

Tintagel

 

Of course, my experience is fairly limited and there's plenty more choices than that, but those are ones that work for this non-floral person.

[Miggins]

I'm going to agree with all of the above suggestions, and add in Djinn, which is just yummy and not floral at all.

[brownbat]

I haven't tried a ton yet, but also find myself put off by really floral scents. Some of my favorites so far:

 

--black forest

--umbra

--jabberwocky

--swank

--danse macabre

--golden priapus

 

 

A lot of the scents I go for tend to be a bit masculine/gender neutral.

[EvilKitten]

Let me see if I can offer some help.

 

I'm not really a floral fan too, I mean in some oils it's been ok. I'm much more a citrus, spicy, foody kinda person I've noticed (I love bliss, dragon's milk, bon vivant, mabon, etc lol)..

 

I also hate the smell of incense. Being Catholic, it just reminds me of the purification of the church, and that incense they used and I just get ill with memories.

 

A good citrusy clean scent if you can find it,(It's still an up and coming) is nine mysteries. It starts out kinda pepperminty, and dries out to citrusy. I like it a lot.

 

Also, Machu Picchu is very fruity, tropical and nice smelling.

 

If you like bubblegum and sweet and fruity then you might like jailbait.

 

I can't really help much on the woodsy scents. Hope that helps some

[capricious]

I am NOT a floral person at all. I recieved a free sample of Hamadryad which I had not ordered because the description says:

Seven dry woods with mossy lichen and a gentle breeze of forest flowers.

 

While the first part of the description sounds perfect for what I enjoy in a scent, The flowers worried me....

When I tried it though...OoooOOOooo

 

It starts out spicy cinnamon (dry, woody spicy - not like red hots) then dries to these soft gorgeous wood notes - it's not really floral at all, just slightly softer and gentler some how......

 

I really suggest you try it!

[spaceprostitute]

Depraved - patchouli and apricot

Imp - patchouli and peach

Loviatar

Wanda (but there's some floral in it, but to me it's more fruity/leather).

Haunted

La Petite Mort

The Hesperides

Baobhan Sith

Old Shanghai

Old Morocco

 

 

 

I'll edit when I can think of more.

 

But, don't discredit florals. I never classified myself as a floral person before BPAL. Sometimes it's just a matter of finding what flowers work and what don't, and how you like your flowers.

 

I'm ok with floral if it's a bit fruity or spicy, too. Like Persephone (rose and pomegranate) and Wanda (crushed rose w/ leather and wine, I think). And some florals work really well like Carnation, which is spicy, Orange Blossom, which is a bittersweet, like orange zest with some pith, lilies of all shapes and sizes, and most rose scents, heliotrope. So now, some of my favorite scents are ones I wouldn't have picked for myself initially, like Alice, Wanda, Ophelia, and Moon Rose.

 

I've also learned that things like violet, lavendar, jasmine, magnolia, honeysuckle, or anything labeled "night blooming flowers" gives me a headache and reminds me of fabric softener (like Juju and Old New Orleans).

Edited October 11, 2004 by spaceprostitute

[summer]

Arcana

Envy

Namaste

 

I'll add more as I think of them! But really, Arcana is the most surprisingly beautiful fresh, calming scent. I'd really reccomend trying it.

 

[bookfaery]

I love the spicy, fruity or woody type scents, yet not so much the floral scents. I'd highly recommend:

 

Old Madrid (more spicy, deep scent)

Jack (creamy, yummy scent)

Hamadryad (suprising given that it does have florals, yet has more wood I think)

Hemlock (this scent is rather minty to me, though on a friend it had a deeper note that I couldn't quite catch)

 

I second, Scherezade (spices) & The Hesperides (fruity notes are wonderful)

 

 

And I agree with spaceprostitute about florals being mixed with fruit or spices, some of them can be really good. I mainly have problems with Lavender, Lilac, and strong florals scents. Though I found Hamadryad worked nicely, Old Glasgow was a bust unfortunately.

[Scylla]

I am DEFINITELY not a floral gal, and my favorites are:

 

Dragon's Milk

Jack

Dana O'Shee

Three Witches

Embalming Fluid

Venom

Sudha Segara

Edited October 13, 2004 by Scylla

[stardust]

Thank you all for helping a girl out! I'm taking notes.

 

I tried Wolfsbane today and I love it! My first BPAL love (not bad, considering I've only tried 6 scents so far).

 

And my wish list just keeps growing...

[Pixie-elf]

I love Black Lotus, it seems to wind up very sweet on me, instead of floral... So you might want to try that. ^^

 

And here's my first order, I was told that most are candyish scents, so, maybe they'd work for you... (I haven't got it yet... lol...)

 

Sugar Skull 5ml

Imps: Jailbait, Aunt Caroline's Joy Mojo, Bordello, Snake Oil, Tamora, Dragons Milk.

 

Also try Dana O'Shee, it smells like Lush's Snowcake... it's just really nice. (Almonds, very sweet and yummy!)

 

And as someone else mentioned, Hollywood Babylon is really sweet too... It's Strawberries and Vanilla, so it might work for you. Good luck!

[xoe]

Thank you all for helping a girl out! I'm taking notes.

 

I tried Wolfsbane today and I love it! My first BPAL love (not bad, considering I've only tried 6 scents so far).

 

And my wish list just keeps growing...

That's awesome! Wolfsbane was just what I was going to suggest. I love it, too.

 

You might also try Phobos for that clean citrusy smell. And, I know somebody else already suggested Baobhan Sith and Imp, but they are both fantastic.

 

You might love Xiuhtecuhtli. It's got a bit of floral, but it's mainly orangey and incensey. It's really delicious.

 

And I'm definitely not a floral person, and yet I love Queen Mab. If you haven't tried it, you may want to consider it.

[Penance]

I hate florals as a general rule, although there are exceptions, so my favorites are:

 

Cathedral

Penitence

Anne Bonny

Old Kathmandu

Tushnamatay

March Hare (odd choice, seeing as how I hate the smell of fruit, too, but I love it)

Queen of Spades (another odd choice, but it works)

 

That's for right now, I've got a ton more imps coming my way, so I'm sure I'll have more to add later.

 

~ Penance

[oatmealneko]

I'm looking to try some more BPAL scents, & I've been able to narrow down what I want. I would like to avoid anything that has either rose or jasmine in it. If an oil has rose even as tertiary ingredient, it will be guaranteed that I will not be able to smell anything else but ROSE on my skin. Ditto for jasmine. Unless they're both in the same oil, then the jasmine will lose to rose. My skin tends to pull rose/jasmine in front of firing squad & make it perform. I applied some Ligeia on my skin this morning, which has jasmine, juniper berry, & rose geranium in it. All I could smell was ROSES.

 

I like scents that smell fresh & crisp, but also ones that are spicy/creamy. I also like fruit scents, but they don't last very long on me. I can smell them in the vial, but they die instantly on my skin, except for lemon. Baobahn Sith has grapefruit in it, but I couldn't smell it at all on me. After about two hours, Baobahn Sith disappeared completely from my skin.

 

The oils I have tried & loved - Dragon's Milk, Neo-Tokyo, Old Port-Au-Prince, Kuang Shi, Embalming Fluid, Tamora. I haven't tried that many oils, so I came here for suggestions.

[Cedar]

We have very similar tastes in scents, it seems. Have you thought about Undertow (clean mint and juniper, very refreshing), Nocturne (aquatic notes, lotus, I think?), Glitter, Seance, Sea of Glass, Dirty, Delirium, Jack, Lightning, Verdandi, Envy, or Absinthe? I don't think any of those have rose notes, and I specifically look for scents without jasmine. (Most of these are on my wishlist.)

Edited January 14, 2005 by Cedar

[oatmealneko]

I have tried a few scents from your wish list, with mixed results. Jack didn't work for me, it smelled disgusting. Some of the light florals (Rosalind, Maiden) turned soapy after two hours.

 

Mint is sort of hit or miss on me. Either I can barely pick it up or it smells weird. Lotus doesn't last that long on my skin. Well, sort of. Black Lotus doesn't, Blood Lotus does, & I'm not sure why.

 

Hmmm..Lighting sounds interesting. Forbidden Fruit was another I wanted to try. A friend suggested Chimera after I told her how much I loved Old Port-Au-Prince. I also want to try White Rabbit. I like the smell of tea.

[shelldoo]

Have you tried tintagel? It is my favorite, and has no rose but has some spice similar to port au prince (but it is deeper, kinda smokey boozy too )

[Macha]

What about Snake Oil? Definately spicey/creamy.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

Warning: if jasmine is bad on you, it is entirely possible that heliotrope is bad as well (another strong sweet floral) so beware of that with Glitter (or anywhere else for that matter). That's how I am--even a touch and all the other notes are drowned. Somewhere there's a thread about categorizing scents--the aquatic and foody ones might be good.