what is ruining these scents for me?

[meaganola]

To push things in a non-musk direction: Ambers do this to me, especially lighter ambers like white or golden. Yeesh, I can feel myself getting a headache just *thinking* about white amber!

[OctoberGwen]

so basically you are telling me to try alllllll the smells? then keep them all and try them again later? sounds fine to me but my bank account will not agree!

 

Nope. I am telling you to keep trying things that sound good to you. Some will work, some won't...even after you think you've figured out what your notes of doom are.

 

And btw...the Swaps forum is your friend.

[Gwydion]

so basically you are telling me to try alllllll the smells? then keep them all and try them again later? sounds fine to me but my bank account will not agree!

 

Nope. I am telling you to keep trying things that sound good to you. Some will work, some won't...even after you think you've figured out what your notes of doom are.

 

And btw...the Swaps forum is your friend.

 

Besides trhe swap forum, I suggest checking ebay for discount imp lots. My first year, I learned a whole lot buying up mixed lots at less than a dollar an imp.

 

Seriously, keep some form of data base where you record scent name, notes, and how it works for you, as it really helps one figure out a list of bad notes and good notes for your tastes and chemistry.

[catalyst]

I have a huge list of everything I've ever tried. It's currently 11 pages long and still growing. I have yet to figure out what that lingering death note is that I keep encountering. It's the very last thing that hangs on for hours, that can turn an amazing scent like Antony into a powdery cheap cologne thing at the very end of it.

 

I'm suspecting amber, ambergris, frankincense, myrrh, benzoin and musk. Which sucks, because I like where all of them start off. But sometimes it happens, and sometimes it doesn't, it's very puzzling. I think I need to start a "suspect note" database. But what if more than one are doing it? Or a combination?

 

God, Antony was a heartbreaker. That still kills me. In every other way it was freaking perfect.

 

tl;dr Suspect note database.

[kittenheel]

tl;dr Suspect note database.

 

This made me

 

I think I know what you're talking about though. Last week I was wearing Sugar Skull, and as the night went on it morphed into this... thing... that can only be described as "Lil' Brut For Her". Needless to say, I was distraught. Especially since Brut is one of those (ahahaha...) "cologne"'s that I have a huge problem with.

 

It hasn't happened since then, so I think it may have even had something to do with the environment I was working in that day (dusty warehouse). I hope to the powers that be that it never morphs like that again though! *shudders*

Edited November 13, 2012 by kittenheel

[Gwydion]

Sugar skull smells like syrup on me, so I'm no help there.

 

Catalyst, if I knew more about your death note, i migt me able to pin it down. If it's a sharp darkly wrong insencey thing, I'd guess frankincense, whuile myrrh has a deeper register. If it's a powdery sort of wrong that's a common problem with amber when it mates with certain skin chemistries. If you smell unwashed/unlaundered, you are likely using one of the hevier musks with an already musky skin chemistry. (There is nothing wriong with natural musk and I have a lot of it myself. I can't use black musk at all and most red musks are too mouch, but I can carry some of the lighter ones). There are some common ways scents go wrong on bodies.

[catalyst]

.

Edited July 30, 2014 by catalyst

[Gwydion]

Where it goes wrong is that the last note turns into something like cheap cologne or like really old perfume that's going rancid. A kind of sour funk.

 

I just tried Minotaur (A deep, swarthy black musk dusted by a dark, resinous blend of sacred bisabol myrrh, atramentous benzoin, tsori, balsam, and galbanum) and I love it. Hasn't gone anywhere funky, even hours later.

 

I put on Haunted the other day to see if it was the amber or musk, but that was fine too.

 

Frankincense is one of the main notes of Licwiglunga, which is one of my top ten of all time, so that can't be it.

 

Ambergris is in The Black Tower (which I've made lotion with) and The Maltese Cross of Sanctus Germanus (one of the only scents I've ever bought a bottle of, which also has frankincense).

 

I'm officially stumped. It must be the mysterious "incense" of Antony.

 

Could it be an accidental accord made by say musk and frankincense together?

[catalyst]

That's what I'm wondering. The more I think about Black Tower, however, the more I'm thinking it's ambergris.

[Gwydion]

That's what I'm wondering. The more I think about Black Tower, however, the more I'm thinking it's ambergris.

 

That would be my next guess.l Anyway, good luck.

[lisalovesbpal]

Especially around my period it goes all metallic and sour.

 

I'm glad you mentioned this - I'm not having any trouble with scents, but last night I not only got a new batch of imps, but I also got my period! So I'm just wondering if any of the imps are going to smell differently on me because of that. I'll just have to try them this week, and next week again after it's gone.

Edited December 14, 2012 by lisalovesbpal

[sophia_p]

Does anyone know about any notes that Cathedral and Kathmandu have in common? Both of them have something that turns to stinky B.O. on me, and it's difficult to figure out which since Cathedral doesn't list any notes. Kathmandu is: Saffron, blessed sandalwood, Himalayan cedar and the miraculous lotus of the Buddha with chiuri bark and Nepalese spices. I suspect it might be cedar, so I was curious if anyone had any similar reaction or knew if there is cedar in Cathedral.

[lisalovesbpal]

Does anyone know about any notes that Cathedral and Kathmandu have in common? Both of them have something that turns to stinky B.O. on me, and it's difficult to figure out which since Cathedral doesn't list any notes. Kathmandu is: Saffron, blessed sandalwood, Himalayan cedar and the miraculous lotus of the Buddha with chiuri bark and Nepalese spices. I suspect it might be cedar, so I was curious if anyone had any similar reaction or knew if there is cedar in Cathedral.

 

Do you think it might be the sandalwood or the Nepalese spices? I mention that because lot of "spicier" scents tend to go B.O.ish on me too. There are very few I can wear. I do have The Last Unicorn on the way, which has white sandalwood in it, so I'll see - it might be so little sandalwood that I'll be okay. But out of commercial fragrances, literally the only spicy one that doesn't stink on me is Coco Chanel. I've worn Opium and Youth Dew and have actually had people come straight up to me to tell me how awful I smell! All that being said, I don't know what's in Cathedral. I found some reviews online at some other fragrance site when I did a Google search. It doesn't list the actual notes, but the people reviewing it mention frankincense, cedar, sandalwood - it's described as very incensey.

[catalyst]

I can see how cedar might go sharp B.O. on someone. Try some others with cedar and see what happens? Try Tombstone and Lear.

[venusinfurs]

Honestly, labdunum, sandalwood, cedar and frankincense are horrible offenders on my skin. They smell great in blends in the bottle but go indescribably foul when worn. Ive had cedar/sandalwood scents turn my stomach before, so that is a possibility! Like everyone's said, you'll learn as you go what exactly is off on your personal chemistry! I hate that I can't wear certain blends but love them as room scent. Sigh.

Edited December 27, 2012 by venusinfurs

[Anne M.]

I think I had a similar reaction to Jacob's Ladder yesterday. I liked the throw of it, but sniffing it up close was too strong and it made me feel sick. There was a similar note in it to the rosin I used to use for my violin bow, which again was OK at a distance but I couldn't stand it close up either.