Notes That Don't Work, Blends That Do

[Floria]

Second Body, Remember--it was actually my first LE last year when I started with BPAL, and found that all things coconut turned hideously awful on me...but that one is Boozy, salty-sweet coconut goodness.

 

I have issues with roses too, and I've yet to find anything rose-y that doesn't smell sour once it hits my skin. And I love roses...it's very sad.

 

Can you wear rosewood? I've found it more cooperative than the flower. I've also found that aging tends to mellow rose notes, at least the lighter ones (like tea rose and whatever's in Pink Snowballs).

[sunshinedaisybliss]

I've found that it really pays to investigate different varieties of a note, because where some will be an evil stench on my skin.. others will not.

 

Coconut is a good example - regular coconut is not always good for me because it turns to super-sweet suntan-lotion-type, but black coconut (as in Body, Remember and also Red Lantern and Death Adder) is pure joy. Coconut husk also works well for me.

 

Rose is generally not good for me - it amps horribly, but I've found tea rose can work (as in Sybil), pink rose can sometimes be OK, and damask rose can also work.

 

I really love vanilla, but some kinds are just too 'foody' and Madagascan vanilla is not my friend (as in Celeste, and the recent SN). Black vanilla is the very best kind for me.

 

Two others that come to mind are jasmine - there's several variants on that one, and of course musk with all its different types (brown, black, Egyptian, golden, white etc).

 

I also know that 'white' anything is a big no-no for me... sandalwood = YAY but white sandalwood = BOO. White florals, white musk, white grapes etc are all just nonono. So another thing to look out for is whether you have a 'colour' profile - for example, I'm usually good with things that are golden, brown, burgundy, purple, just dark in general - not so good with anything white, green, blue. And also watch for descriptors - eg if it says things like 'dark' or 'deep', 'rich' etc then I'm in... but any mention of 'bright' or 'sparkling' or 'fizzy' usually means it's a no. But sometimes even stenchly notes can work if they're in combination with something good - like BPTP's Lucy, Kissed for example has rose and violets *shudder* but it said 'blackened violets and funeral roses' so that was a good hint that those two weren't going to be the 'standard' floral variety of violet and rose and maybe could work, and it also has patchouli, oude, amber which I love - plus it's got 'diabolical voluptuousness' in its description - so I was confident it would be OK and yep - turns out to be one of my most favourite blends so that's a good example of one that was a winner despite having a couple of bad notes for me.

 

So yeah, short version - it's definitely worth trying a few varieties and considering the overall 'mood' or tone of a blend before writing off a note completely

[urbantravels]

I'm in the "no patchouli, EVER" camp, but I've seen some blends that otherwise look so intriguing that I'm tempted to take the chance.

 

I was frimped some Economic Recovery and that is definitely a patchouli note that is WAY too dominant, in a hippie incense way, for me.

[Verios]

tea notes have yet to work on me--either I can't pick up on them at all, or they seem to go weirdly licorice-y...and not in a pleasant way.

 

It makes me particularly sad, since I love drinking tea, and the smell of it is one I really, really love.

 

as for coconut commentary...my favorite coconut blend has to be Tiki Princess, of the ones I've tried...not that I've tried all THAT many, but I just love the way the coconut comes out in that blend.

[tharsei-thanate]

I've found that it really pays to investigate different varieties of a note, because where some will be an evil stench on my skin.. others will not.

 

Coconut is a good example - regular coconut is not always good for me because it turns to super-sweet suntan-lotion-type, but black coconut (as in Body, Remember and also Red Lantern and Death Adder) is pure joy. Coconut husk also works well for me.

 

Rose is generally not good for me - it amps horribly, but I've found tea rose can work (as in Sybil), pink rose can sometimes be OK, and damask rose can also work.

 

I really love vanilla, but some kinds are just too 'foody' and Madagascan vanilla is not my friend (as in Celeste, and the recent SN). Black vanilla is the very best kind for me.

 

Two others that come to mind are jasmine - there's several variants on that one, and of course musk with all its different types (brown, black, Egyptian, golden, white etc).

 

[snip]

 

So yeah, short version - it's definitely worth trying a few varieties and considering the overall 'mood' or tone of a blend before writing off a note completely

 

 

This is all very true! It's good to explore options, since a lot of notes have tons of variety. It never really occurred to me that black coconut would be different from regular coconut, I've just been assuming it would be awful (which was a silly assumption since I try all different kinds of vanillas when I know that vanilla is iffy on me- not sure why I've never given coconut the same courtesy). Super excited to order some black coconut blends when I have some cash on me! Even if it still doesn't work, at least I'll know.

 

tea notes have yet to work on me--either I can't pick up on them at all, or they seem to go weirdly licorice-y...and not in a pleasant way.

 

It makes me particularly sad, since I love drinking tea, and the smell of it is one I really, really love.

 

Is this any tea or certain kinds of teas? Maybe, say, white tea doesn't work but black or green tea might? I think the other notes interacting with the tea might have an impact, too. Maybe a tea note with milk might not work but a tea note with honey will?

 

My top three tea blends are The Apothecary (tea leaf with three mosses, green grass, a medley of herbal notes, and a drop of ginger and fig), White Rabbit (strong black tea and milk with white pepper, ginger, honey and vanilla, spilled over the crisp scent of clean linen), and Nostrum Remedium (black tea leaf, invigorating wasabi extract, sweetened by honey). Have you tried any of those before? Admittedly, the tea in White Rabbit isn't quite that strong on me (it smells like I had some tea with my honey, not the other way around), but Apothecary and Nostrum Remedium smell like pure cups of sweetened hot tea.