Honey and Beeswax scents

[parrot_suspect]

Somebody bought a bottle of Judith and Holofernes from me. While packing it up, I opened it for one last sniff, and put a tiny drop on my wrist. Wow, did that scent carry. For the next hour, all I could smell was very sweet honey with a touch of floral. If that's your thing, you won't be disappointed.

[Kayah]

So, a rec and a request...

 

When I first got into BPAL I searched for everything with my absolutely favorite note: freesia. One of the first things I tried was Mad Kate from the retail only salon that I got as a decant from someone - the beeswax note in it drowned out all others, and it smelled like pure beeswax to my nose. If you can try it and you love beeswax, I highly recommend it.

 

 

Now.. I recently got an imp of Tum from the discontinued stations of the sun... and it is a dead on duplicate of the scent of buckwheat honey. I even made myself a buckwheat honey sandwich and smelled the honey and then my wrist to confirm - the two were *exactly* the same. I know Tum has been rec'd in the Grape thread, but to me it has no grape, but is all honey.

So, I have fallen in love, and I want something LIKE it, and.. any ideas?

 

Is there anything I've missed that has the same type of scent/feel as Tum did?

 

(ETA: I'm a real honey "nut" not just for the scent but I adore trying different honeys too, so much so that my cupboard has at least 4-5 different kinds on a regular basis, and they all taste, and smell, completely different!)

Edited June 1, 2011 by Farenath

[lookingglass]

I rediscovered Horreur Sympathetique last night...oh, the dark plum honey!!!

[stellamaris]

I would like to cast my vote for favorite honey to be Crib Girls.

I love all the Honeys from R's Garden, especially Tobacco Flower Honey.

Is it strange that I am a non smoker but I love the smell of the Tobacco blends, ie. Liz, Illustrated Woman?

[imaginepageant]

Is it strange that I am a non smoker but I love the smell of the Tobacco blends, ie. Liz, Illustrated Woman?

 

Same here! Tobacco is one of my favorite BPAL notes. I don't particularly like the smell of cigarette smoke (though it does depend on the brand), but I quite like the smell of a freshly-opened pack of cigarettes, when it's straight-up tobacco instead of burning tobacco and a zillion other chemicals. And I've never smoked a cigarette in my life.

 

Have you tried The Antikythera Mechanism? It's got the strongest tobacco note out of the tobacco blends I've tried so far.

[saralaughs]

Off topic but tobacco does not equal a smokey smell. *shrugs*

 

As for honey, I'm really craving a dark honey scent. Most I tend to love are light and 'sunshiney' in feel, you know? Any recs for a honey blend with a darker feel?

[jizatt]

Off topic but tobacco does not equal a smokey smell. *shrugs*

 

As for honey, I'm really craving a dark honey scent. Most I tend to love are light and 'sunshiney' in feel, you know? Any recs for a honey blend with a darker feel?

 

you could try Anactoria. I think the musk part is stronger, but its definitely worth trying =) (Golden amber, white honey, red currant, daemonorops, kush, and Arabian musk.)

[dreamingjune]

Off topic but tobacco does not equal a smokey smell. *shrugs*

 

As for honey, I'm really craving a dark honey scent. Most I tend to love are light and 'sunshiney' in feel, you know? Any recs for a honey blend with a darker feel?

 

You might want to try Dragon's Milk- Dragon's blood resin and honeyed vanilla. For more of a sexy beeswax sort of blend there is Luperci- raw, down and dirty patchouli, Gurjam balsam, and essence of Sampson Root sweetened with the heightened sexuality of beeswax, virile juniper, oakmoss, ambrette seed over honey and East African musk. If you can, get the 2006 version as it is way more sexy earthy beeswax and less of a juniper vibe. Also, though Tombeur is not a honey blend there is something about it that reads as sexy womanly dark honey to me.

[Altaira]

I love beeswax scents, as mentioned on a previous page. But while I love the scent of honey, the BPAL honey note generally smells like baby powder on my skin.

 

Chocolate scents also go powdery, so imagine my surprise when I tested an imp of CENTZON TOTOCHTIN ( Bittersweet Mexican cocoa with rum, red wine, and a scent redolent of sacrificial blood). It smells exactly like dark, spiced honey on me. Something about the booze and the chocolate come together in an accord that really works where the actual note has failed.

[saralaughs]

Thanks for the recs ladies! Unfortunately, I've tried all of them (except the Luperci '06, which I will keep my eye out for) and those blends don't like me for various reasons.

[chaismolokom]

Not a dark honey, but I'm loving Half Elf v5 right now. It's like Bengal, but with greenery and light florals instead of spice.

[imaginepageant]

So I finally got my imp of The Lights of Men's Lives. Haven't done a full review yet, because I'm a bit worried that there were other factors messing with the scent (it was just delivered that day and hadn't had a chance to sit yet, I was wearing four other oils on other parts of my arms) so I'm going to try it again in a week or so. But, based on my initial test... can't say I'm too happy with it. It's nice in the imp and just-on, but it got cloyingly sweet, and almost plasticky, in the drydown. I love the way No. 93 Engine dries down to a soft, smoky beeswax and was hoping I'd get that, but quicker, with The Lights of Men's Lives, but alas, it may not be meant to be!

[Gwydion]

I wish Chanukah were stronger.

[reconditarmonia]

I tried Stinky recently, and ohhhh is it wonderful.

[ivyandpeony]

I had not picked up my bottle of Honey Moon in a long time - man, is it the most delicious honey ever! Not that I haven't loved it since I opened my mailbox back in 2005 but age has only made it better. I layered it with Jacob's Ladder 2005 and it put me into a honey-amber pleasure coma.

[Klepz]

The Lights of Men's Lives is so muted, soft, sweet and waxy. I adore it. It is the only wax scent that has been wearable and not cloying for me. So cozy!

[vanilla323]

I agree Dragon's Milk is amazing and one of my favorite honey scents as of right now. It is a darker sweet honey the best of both worlds! Love it!

[Honey]

OK, maybe I am repeating previous suggestions, but here it goes..

 

 

O - Goes without saying.

 

Skuld - Very dominant honey note! If you don't mind ylang ylang, then this is awesome!

 

Womb Furie - A bit chemical at first but dries down to a lovely Snake Oil plus honey combo! It's like a spicy version of O I think.

 

Alice - Has honey and rose in it, should be right up your alley! Unless you cannot stand milky/citrusy undertones.

 

Half Elf v5 - Smells like beeswax and lilac on me. Very creamy and powdery. Love it!

 

No. 93 Engine - Totally forgot to add this. Lovely spicy frankincense honey!

Edited October 11, 2011 by Honey

[Alethia]

Wholeheartedly seconding the mention of Crib Girls as my personal favorite honey blend. I've gone through close to half a bottle in a little over a month

 

I also really, really love the honey in Josie. It's perfect for those days where I want a simple sweet scent.

[ivyandpeony]

Even though it makes me giggle to say (or type) the name, Pussy (Moth!) is my current fave. And I love being able to wear my honey scents with the scent of Honey Hair Gloss wafting around me.

[Floria]

BPAL has lots of interesting-looking perfumes that use honey as a note, but I'm not certain that BPAL's honey likes me. Or maybe it likes me too much, in all the wrong ways.

 

My luck with honey notes in perfume has been mixed - the honey + wine combination in Athens and Delphi turns to flavored honey sticks or molten fruit hard candy on me and eats the rest of the components, the honey + cherry in Blood Kiss is a bit similar but the other ingredients manage to hold their own, I remember liking O the single time I had a chance to try it, and I've had good luck with a couple of honey blends from another company. Beeswax seems to be fine, at least with assertive ingredients (as in No. 93 Engine).

I'm looking for blends in which the honey is detectable but doesn't take over and make me smell like I bathe in mead. I prefer slightly "toasted", caramelish honeys over syrupy honeys.

 

As mentioned above, I don't have the best track record with honey + wine combos, and I've had bad luck with lily. Otherwise, I'm not picky.

[Altaira]

The Lights of Men's Lives is a soft, subtle beeswax scent.

[doodlehum]

From the Salon:

 

Itasô Kansei Nenkan Jorô No Fûzoku, Wada hori Yû.

Osmanthus, white honey, ti leaf, hibiscus, and sugar cane.

 

While the honey is a very noticeable presence for me, the white honey feels lighter than the usual BPAL honey. Nothing too rich or heady here. In fact, I wear this one a lot in summer.

[orata]

My faves are Deadly Nightshade Honey, Lights of Men's Lives, and Against Idleness and Mischief--have you tried any of those? I found them less sweet than O.

[het4377]

Dana O'Shee is a lovely sweetened honey that I don't find too strong; Door is a lovely bright blend that doesn't scream honey; Agrat-Bat-Mahlaht is a goody caramel-honey, that while I didn't have a positive reaction to the caramel (it's a death note on me), was quite lovely in the bottle; Elegy IX: The Autumnal is a fairly recent LE that is a GREAT subtle honey scent, with a hint of patchouli that makes it feel very autumny; Giant Vulva is a bit harder to find, but it's a lovely caramel, skin musk and honey blend; Luperci (in any of it's yearly incarnations) has both beeswax and honey listed in its note list, but the honey doesn't come strongly to the front of the blend.

 

I think that should give you plenty to think about

 

Also, while not a subtle honey by any means, I feel like I would be remiss in not mentioning Crib Girls; it's one of my favorite honey blends!