Recs for those who can't do sweet perfumes?

[GingerGunlock]

Shub-Niggurath, if you dig ginger. I don't think there's anything in it that can go sweet.

[zenvodunista]

Snake Oil isn't sweet - but you might amp sweet (I do that sometimes) - try it. FWIW - sometimes people's noses register things like "vanilla" as "sweet". Same thing with "spices" especially if you associate spices with cooking. For now, you might want to avoid spiced scents at first and try some other things that REALLY aren't sweet and see if they do it for you. A lot of the "spiced" scents go to plastic on me (I think it's secret cardomom doing it), but I find that some resinous scents have a spice-like scent when I wear them.

 

I can't wear a number of the following scents due to skin chemistry - but I know these aren't sweet! ANd a number have a big following

 

As for definitely NOT sweet try things like Djinn which which smoky and dark and doesn't have a bit of sweet in it anywhere: The scent of black smoke, of crackling flames, and smoldering ashes. Really. NOT SWEET!

 

Black Annis: mixture of damp cave lichen and oak leaf with a hint of vetiver, civet and anise.

 

Fenris Wolf: Rosewood, amber, red musk and a dribble of red sandalwood. - You might turn red musk to sweet, but give it a try - it's woody and resinous.

 

Troll: vetiver, pine pitch, troll musk, black basil, clove smoke, and scorched cumin. There are spices in there, but not sweet ones.

 

Envy: Green herbs slithering through mint, lime and lavender. Nothing particularly sweet here either.

 

De Sade: LEATHER.

 

Oblivion: I cant' wear a lot of woody things, but : Dark musk, wood spice, labdanum, patchouli, dark African woods, and saffron. Woody and spicy. NO SWEETS. Unless your skin chemistry does somethign sweet to dark musk.

 

Mad Sweeney: Barrel-aged whiskey and oak. YUM.

 

Coyote: The warmth of doeskin, dry plains grasses and soft, dusty woods warmed by amber and a downy, gentle coat of deep musk. Smells like hay to me. Not sweet.

 

Odin: His scent is dry elm bark, amaranth, warrior’s musk, and Odin’s Nine Herbs of Power. Herbaceous, woody and musky.

 

The Apothecary is one of my favorites, of all time. Not sweet- herbaceous and refreshing though!

 

I have tried to avoid anything with a hint of flowers or even sweet leaning resins (like myrrh). Really, anything that might amp to sweetness. You'll have to experiment with the musks.

 

Good luck!

 

N.

[heartlilly]

I LOVE Bengal, but on my skin it is pretty sweet, but gorgeous.

 

I can't help much other than that because I tend to like sweet.

[blu°]

Mad Meg is a very dry-dark-woodsy-earthy-spicy one and not sweet as far as my experience goes.

[alianthe]

So, totally off the wall here, but have you tried Kumiho? It's white tea and ginger, and it's my favorite "fresh! happy!" smell. Embalming Fluid is also quite nice, but Kumiho is much more fresh-smelling on me. It still has a little sweetness on me, but it's not rock candy sweet like Rage. Yes, I'm probably the only person who got amber rock candy out of Rage. But if you amp sweetness and florals, be sure to google any note name that you don't know. Rage contains a note of a tropical flower, and on me it goes amber rock candy. Which is actually quite delicious, so I use it as a craving buster, like El Dia De Reyes...

 

Pottersville, I've found that same thing with blends like Aunt Caroline's Joy Mojo! It is supposed to be tooth-achingly sweet, and on me it simply doesn't change at all from the bottle to my skin. Which I agree, is much preferable to the blends where the sweet comes out unexpectedly, when they weren't supposed to be sweet. Like Taurus. That went completely Slavering Rampaging Plumeria Monster on me and I don't have any idea why. I didn't think there was anybody else out there who was as weird, skin-chemically, as me..

 

Also, The Lion is my new favorite power scent, next to War. Very amber and spices and warm and powerful, and not sweet at all. 

 

Kumiho, Embalming Fluid, and The Lion are all GCs, btw, so should be pretty easily available as imps, and cheap besides.

Edited February 22, 2008 by alianthe

[smallvoice]

First of all: Snake Oil is the most popular blend, but there are plenty of people who dislike it intensely. I've read reviews similar to your experience, in fact. Reviews, plural. While it's possible BPAL just might not be your bag, I don't think it's time to give up yet. I tend to like sweeter scents, but I've tried a few blends so I think I might be able to help. A little.

 

Some suggestions: I can't believe nobody has mentioned Dirty! Hello clean. Black Opal could work, or it might go sweet, but I'd still say you should try it. You should definitely give Dee a spin, and I'll also second the suggestion of Odin. The Hesperides might be heavy on the apple for you, but it does have that autumnal vibe, to me. Scarecrow, Seance, Tempest, Yggdrasil, Sacred Whore of Babylon, Szepasszony and Ozymandias all come to mind, as well.

[alianthe]

I can't believe nobody has mentioned Dirty! Hello clean. Black Opal could work, or it might go sweet, but I'd still say you should try it. You should definitely give Dee a spin, and I'll also second the suggestion of Odin. The Hesperides might be heavy on the apple for you, but it does have that autumnal vibe, to me. Scarecrow, Seance, Tempest, Yggdrasil, Sacred Whore of Babylon, Szepasszony and Ozymandias all come to mind, as well.

 

Teehee, Dirty. I was GOING to mention Dirty, but I decided not to, since it was sort of off topic.

 

Dirty to everybody else is clean and fresh, or laundry-soap floral. It is to my nose in the bottle, too. But when I put it on, it goes all misty-dusky-musky-gorgeous-sexy. Himself starts salivating, it's really cute.

It's weird, because normally I amp florals to an uncomfortable level, but in this case I wouldn't think there's a single flower in the bottle. Maybe everybody else is wrong, or maybe it's just my freaky skin.

So yeah... when I want to get seductive, I wear Dirty. When I want to feel clean and fresh, I wear Kumiho or sometimes Embalming Fluid.

 

Also, Tempest! Holy rainstorm, Tempest! In the bottle it smells like impending rain. On me it smells like monsoon. It's fabulous, if you like aquatic scents. Which Tehriaz said she doesn't.

Edited February 23, 2008 by alianthe

[fireflower]

I was thinking maybe give 51 a try? To me it's not sweet at all, it's dusky and glowing.

 

Are there any well-known perfumes or oils you've tried and have liked that we could get more of an idea of your tastes?

[starwild]

Here's a few that are not sweet on me, though ymmv:

 

Anne Bonny

A blend of Indonesian red patchouli, red sandalwood, and frankincense.

 

Grandmother of Ghosts (Despite the floral notes, this is nothing like a floral on me)

Her scent swirls with a high-pitched tumult of laurel, stargazer lily, splintered woods, peony, mandarin and white musk, and is spiked with pale pepper.

 

Morgause

A bouquet of five night-blooming flowers deepened by dusky violet, purple fruits and the barest breath of medieval incenses.

 

The Raven

Sleek, dark, and ominous. Violet and neroli mingled with iris, white sandalwood and dark musk.

 

Darkness

Bottled gloom; the essence of oblivion. Blackest opium and narcissus deepened by myrrh.

 

Oblivion

Dark musk, wood spice, labdanum, patchouli, dark African woods, and saffron.

 

Black Dahlia

Voluptuous magnolias strewn over orchid, star jasmine, black amber and smoky rose.

 

Crossroads

A chill twilit garden of blooms over dry earth and mosses, heavily laden with incense and offertory herbs.

 

Ozymandias

Dry desert air, dry and hot, passing over crumbling stone megaliths and plundered golden monuments, bearing a hint of the incense of lost Gods on its winds.

 

Sri Lanka

Indian sandalwood and cedar, and the dry incense smoke of olibanum, gum mastic, patchouli and myrrh.

Edited February 23, 2008 by starwild

[jarvenpa]

Well, I love sweet, and amp it (I don't really like foody fragrances much though) and many of your horror-scents are ones I like a lot--but I was struck by your mentioning Velvet with approval.

I like Velvet too; and it tends to a dry sandalwood on me. So maybe sandalwood is something you should look for? (yes, I realize you think you are seeking green fresh air or something like that, but--in the zillions of Bpal scents something that is perfect is awaiting you, and you wouldn't have ever thought it possible).

 

So, in the lines of warm wood scents, try Aureus.

 

To me hyacinths (which I adore) smell of cloves, so you might seek out some clove scents, or possibly carnation (yes, I know hyacinths and carnations do not smell alike).

 

You might like the dirt scent in Bpal, odd though that sounds. I don't know if Jazz Funeral will be too heady for you (does have florals, which you hate, does have booze, which you hate...probably has oakmoss, which is one of my favorite scents ever...).

 

I noted one of the forumites seems to be your scent opposite. This is always helpful to find indeed (good luck there).

 

Early on I would have recommended Faustus, which is warm and lovely (but I think it contains all the spices you hate deeply).

 

The Apothecary is good. You might look for other tea scents that do not also have honey (honey can amp tremendously, sometimes it even scares "nothing can be too sweet" me.)

 

And...don't reject a scent immediately. Try it again in a couple weeks. You might be astonished.

 

And don't automatically dismiss a scent even if it does list something you hate within it. Some of my favorites I would never ever have thought to try had I gone by the lab description.

 

How are you with evergreen/pine scents? Some of those read "green and fresh" to my nose (but tend to go sweet on me too).

 

If you liked Othello (I do too) you may actually like rose. If you can find some RoseRed (any year) you may like that a lot. It is freshcut roses (at least the 2007 version is, and the earlier versions I got drops of to test also were lovely). Wet freshcut roses. Beautiful.

 

(hijack: ivy, I adore your puggish avi!)

Edited February 25, 2008 by jarvenpa

[ElinaMakropulos]

Morocco goes super, super nastily sweet on me and smells like the perfume this hideously mean temp receptionist we had wore...do you guys think this is an issue of letting it age a little or do you think it'll just not work for me?

[Tigerkatze]

I'm new to BPAL and have just tried:

 

Bastet (ok after it dried then wore in)

Anne Bonny (cloying incense-y, not fierce at all)

Black Forest (very sweet and cloying - the pine disappeared in seconds)

Scherezade (same as Anne Bonny - the difference was minimal)

The Lion (VERY sweet, sickeningly so, and didn't change as it dried)

Dragon's Blood (started like red jellybeans, changed to cough syrup, dried a bit better)

Wanton (VERY perfumy and sweet, might be OK though)

 

I still have some more samples to try, but am feeling less than impressed. Normally, I like incensey perfumes, amber, musk, anything dark. But I don't like super perfumy smells or food as scent.

 

In this thread some people have mentioned Anne Bonny and Black Forest as being good non-sweet oils, but on me, they went cloying and sticky-sweet.

 

While I like sweet scents (Amber resin on its own, Body Shop's White Musk) I guess these here at BPAL go sweet quickly on me.

 

I have another order coming with:

 

Black Annis, Black Tower, Bloodlust, Fenris Wolf, Haunted, Nosferatu, Omen, and Zombi

 

hoping that these aren't so cloyingly head-shop-perfume sweet on me.

 

If anyone can recommend anything, I'll search the reviews and add them to my list. Otherwise, I am tempted to just send the whole batch to my friend in Los Angeles - at least she is near the BPAL shop, and maybe one or more will work for her, as she's curious about BPAL.

 

It is kind of frustrating when you search through all the names and all the reviews and then have such disappointing results...

 

Tigerkatze

[eyeska]

I'm new to BPAL and have just tried:

 

Bastet (ok after it dried then wore in)

Anne Bonny (cloying incense-y, not fierce at all)

Black Forest (very sweet and cloying - the pine disappeared in seconds)

Scherezade (same as Anne Bonny - the difference was minimal)

The Lion (VERY sweet, sickeningly so, and didn't change as it dried)

Dragon's Blood (started like red jellybeans, changed to cough syrup, dried a bit better)

Wanton (VERY perfumy and sweet, might be OK though)

 

I still have some more samples to try, but am feeling less than impressed. Normally, I like incensey perfumes, amber, musk, anything dark. But I don't like super perfumy smells or food as scent.

 

In this thread some people have mentioned Anne Bonny and Black Forest as being good non-sweet oils, but on me, they went cloying and sticky-sweet.

 

While I like sweet scents (Amber resin on its own, Body Shop's White Musk) I guess these here at BPAL go sweet quickly on me.

 

I have another order coming with:

 

Black Annis, Black Tower, Bloodlust, Fenris Wolf, Haunted, Nosferatu, Omen, and Zombi

 

hoping that these aren't so cloyingly head-shop-perfume sweet on me.

 

If anyone can recommend anything, I'll search the reviews and add them to my list. Otherwise, I am tempted to just send the whole batch to my friend in Los Angeles - at least she is near the BPAL shop, and maybe one or more will work for her, as she's curious about BPAL.

 

Well, for GC stuff I might recommend:

 

Djinn (smells like FIRE - makes me smell like a big bonfire, which actually I love)

Oblivion (although there are a couple of folks piping up in this thread about this going sweet on them - it really doesn't on me, but of course with body chemistry, your mileage WILL vary)

Yggdrasil (mossy and herbal)

 

I do hope you're able to find something (or lots of somethings!) in your next package, though!

[Tigerkatze]

So far, Black Tower is VERY sweet (don't get this being masculine/military at all) but dark enough that it's OK.

 

Fenris Wolf is a hit - animaly that dries to musky.

 

Black Annis was a NO - something coconutty combined with something chemically made me feel literally nauseated. Had to scrub it off with dish soap and the lingering scent is kind of OK.

 

Zombi is rose and wet, green, mossy earth. Feminine, even sexy (who'd guess from the name?) but not sweet.