Help me expand my olfactory horizons!

[Dusk]

Hi all. I've been inactive for over 2 years but now I'm back and I want to branch out. Previously, I thought I had a clear idea of what I wanted, and I was trying to stay fairly solidly in masculine/unisex territory. At this point in time I care much less about what other people think and I know there are many blends that I had dismissed for probably being too feminine, that might actually be wonderful. Now I'm willing to try pretty much anything, and I have no idea where to start!

Some of my favorite notes are sandalwood, ginger, incense, tonka, and generally spices, resins, and woods. I hate rose geranium and dragon's blood, and I don't like scents that are strongly aquatic or very cologney/perfumey. I thought I didn't do foody but then Saw-Scaled Viper came along smelling of cinnamon buns and it was perfect. The BPAL I go back to most often are Antikythera Mechanism, Old Demons of the First Class, Fenris Wolf, Sin, and Scherezade.

Unexpected successes (I think they were frimps?) were Ehecatl (I really liked the hibiscus), Skytyping with Chemtrails, Mag Mell, and Seance (I think the rose was the winner here).

Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

[Haltija]

Welcome back (:

Here are some of my suggestions.

 

If you have never tried Shub-Niggurath I think it's about time you do. The description is "The lust incense of a corrupted Astarte. A blend of ritual herbs and dark resins, shot through with three gingers and aphrodisiacal spices."

 

Kubla Khan- Through sunlit caves of ice, roses unfurl amidst dancing waves of serpentine opium smoke and amber tobacco, golden sandalwood, champaca, tea leaf, sugared lily, ginger, rich hay absolute, leather, dark vanilla, mandarin, peru balsam, and Moroccan jasmine.

Dee- His scent is soft English leather, rosewood and tonka with a hint of incense, parchment and soft woods.

Lysander- Lilac musk, tonka, wood violet, and urbane lime rind, with a Venus-kissed tangle of myrtle, blackberry leaf, and benzoin.

Gingerbread Cathedral- Gingerbread with olibanum, Oman myrrh, Damascus rose resin, and cassia.

Anathema- A scent as heavy as thunder from the Vatican, with notes that inspire every sin and excess. Black opium, with vetivert and honeysuckle.

Edited December 4, 2014 by Haltija

[Dusk]

Thanks, Haltija! Shub-Niggurath is definitely on my to-try list. Dee is pretty nice but definitely in my comfort zone already. I didn't know about Gingerbread Cathedral and it sounds amazing, and Lysander also looks worth a try. Something in Kubla Khan went nauseatingly wrong on me, though, maybe the opium? :/

[Haltija]

Thanks, Haltija! Shub-Niggurath is definitely on my to-try list. Dee is pretty nice but definitely in my comfort zone already. I didn't know about Gingerbread Cathedral and it sounds amazing, and Lysander also looks worth a try. Something in Kubla Khan went nauseatingly wrong on me, though, maybe the opium? :/

Could have been the Opium. It's a love or hate scent with a lot of people. Gingerbread Cathedral is a Yule and if you have smelled the original Cathedral then you will like this version of it because it's just gorgeous Gingerbread added.

 

The Diamond's Gong- A celestial hymn, singing to Earth from fifty light years away: ten billion-trillion-trillion-carats of glittering white musk, with cognac, tagetes, white champaca, Gum Arabic, and davana. (Something just told me to show you this one)

[elbow]

Forgive me if my suggestions are not femme-y (so hard to define!), or if you've already tried them. I looked at your Notes post and picked out some GC scents that are still available from the Lab, to make your search easier and slightly less expensive.

 

Eden (fig leaf, fig fruit, honeyed almond milk, toasted coconut and sandalwood)

Laudanum (Nutmeg, sassafras, black poppy and myrrh)

Sudha Segara (Sweet milk and warm, healing ginger with a touch of golden honey and our blend of Ambrosia)

Miskatonic University (Irish coffee, dusty tomes and polished oakwood halls)

Desire (bittersweet neroli, black patchouli and black musk, gilded by apple, bergamot, blood red rose, teak, and vanilla)

Bengal (skin musk with honey, peppers, clove, cinnamon bark and ginger)

Aglaea (Three golden ambers, bright musk, peach wine and myrtle)

Kumiho (A sharp, biting blend of crisp white tea and ginger)

 

Oh, and do try Snake Oil and Black Phoenix if you haven't already!

Edited December 4, 2014 by elbow

[stellamaris]

You might not agree with the leather note in Kubla Khan, it's pretty strong.

I notice you like lush, heavy scents, why not try Urd or Skuld? I think they are the unsung heros of BPAL...IMO of course.

And yes, Diamond's Gong is winning, I vote that too, it has a very nice inscensey vibe to it.

Oh yes, and Midnight Mass is an amazing Frankincense, it's very deep and lasting. Quite amazing. It's out with the Yules now.

Edited December 4, 2014 by stellamaris

[Dusk]

Thank you! Elbow, those are exactly what I was looking for. I'll also look into Urd, Skuld, and Diamond's Gong.

[elbow]

I don't often recommend scents, but it seems to me there's a lot of overlap in our scent preferences. Hope some of those work for you. Post back here and let us know what you think, if you don't mind!

 

Looking back over my notes, I had a similar experience with Kubla Khan. So many interesting things going on there, but I couldn't get past the ginger, lily, and jasmine. Of course, what makes it go bad on you might be something entirely different.

[Balame]

Some of my favorite notes are sandalwood, ginger, incense, tonka, and generally spices, resins, and woods. I hate rose geranium and dragon's blood, and I don't like scents that are strongly aquatic or very cologney/perfumey.

 

I can make some recs based on the notes you list here, since I like all of those things except for ginger/spice (depends on how strong they are).

 

Sandalwood is possibly my favorite note overall, and some blends you might enjoy are:

 

Violens - Five sandalwoods, dusty leather, and light musk.

Kit - Mysore sandalwood, a tattered and patched 16^th century waistcoat, inkstained, still scented with the marjoram and benzoin dry perfumes of his youth.

Following Instructions - South Indian sandalwood, amber-encrusted wood, white grains, massoia bark, and hops.

Lacus Solitudinis - Meditative white sandalwood with rosewood, Roman chamomile, white lavender, marjoram, Himalayan cedar, and oudh.

The White Rider - White leather and sandalwood.

Post-Mortem Laureatus - White sandalwood and twining ivy.

 

The first three are on the powerful side where the rest are softer/more neutral. Lacus Solitudinis was a sleeper hit for me. I was worried the rosewood might take over or that the other herbs might be too astringent, but nope, they all play together beautifully. The rosewood is very similar to that in Seance since it doesn't overwhelm the nice woodiness.

 

You might like Following Instructions a lot since it's spicy... not hot spicy, but aromatic spices like those used in cooking. My husband is Indian and he says it reminds him of the incense used in Hindu temples he used to visit. It's really yummy in a dry way.

 

Resin-wise I second Midnight Mass with the addition of Jacob's Ladder (for something a bit gentler). They're both some of my favorites and killer resin blends. The Phoenixes from last year are also super resin-intensive, so you may want to take a look at them. My favorite was Herodotus' Phoenix (A fragrant shroud: myrrh from Yemen, Oman, and West Africa with a touch of copal and frankincense) for its chewy, rich myrrh.

 

Since you dig woods I'm going to go ahead and recommend Lear (White cedarwood, blue sage and bay leaf) too. It's the most beautiful soft cedar with some herbs backing it up. Also check out this year's Visions of Autumn series. Many woods/resins combos there. I'd look at I and VII in particular (I actually found I to be something like a darker Lear).

 

Lastly, uhm... Kroenen (Shining black leather, gleaming metal, labdanum, and myrrh)? It's probably not a departure from your "older style" of scents being dark and on the "masculine" side, but the resins in it combined with leather are super sexy.

[Cactus]

If you are into Scherezade and spices/woods and are willing to experiment with things that are slightly foody, you might want to try Morocco! It has lovely sandalwood and spices and just smells warm and wonderful, but also has a nice spicy carnation and something that smells a little like baklava in the background.

 

If you are interested in a very intense, slightly sweet ginger, you might want to try Fire of Love.

 

(Ginger Skulls is also *very* good - it's one of my favorite gingers. It smells to me like fresh ginger, candied ginger, and ripe pears. It's a little harder to find, though, because it's limited edition.)

[Dusk]

More great suggestions, thank you! A lot that I hadn't noticed before. I wasn't aware of Kit or Following Instructions and they look amazing. And I need to take a look at the Phoenixes and Visions of Autumn, I missed those updates completely.

 

Morocco wasn't at all foody on me but I do remember liking it. I think it was very spicy sandalwood and dry carnation on me.

[Dusk]

Reporting back - there are a lot of recommendations that I still need to try (have a few of the imps right now) but I've just tried Sudha Segara and Shub-Niggurath - and they're great! Sudha Segara is different from what I expected - a lot lighter and fresher, with fruitiness from the ambrosia, which is actually very nice. And it still dries down to a cozy milky scent. And Shub-Niggurath is just perfect. Delicious, and throw for miles. I want to bathe in it, really. Did a retest of Miskatonic U but the sweet booziness is a bit overwhelming on my skin.Desire is looking promising in the imp, but I just got a bunch of stuff in the mail and ran out of space to skin test. So thanks again for the great recommendations!

[Haltija]

Reporting back - there are a lot of recommendations that I still need to try (have a few of the imps right now) but I've just tried Sudha Segara and Shub-Niggurath - and they're great! Sudha Segara is different from what I expected - a lot lighter and fresher, with fruitiness from the ambrosia, which is actually very nice. And it still dries down to a cozy milky scent. And Shub-Niggurath is just perfect. Delicious, and throw for miles. I want to bathe in it, really. Did a retest of Miskatonic U but the sweet booziness is a bit overwhelming on my skin.Desire is looking promising in the imp, but I just got a bunch of stuff in the mail and ran out of space to skin test. So thanks again for the great recommendations!

So glad that Shub was a winner. I knew it would be (:

[elbow]

Reporting back - there are a lot of recommendations that I still need to try (have a few of the imps right now) but I've just tried Sudha Segara and Shub-Niggurath - and they're great!

Yay! So glad you're finding some winners! Your description of Sudha Segara makes me wish I could wear it... but ginger gets out of control fast on my skin.