What should I try next?: An inevitable thread

[Laughing Seagull]

It's that time.

 

I'm 40-some scents in and I am not sure how to tell what I like or how to figure out how to figure out what I like...  haha.  I have sorted the scents that I've tried into several categories to try and puzzle it out.  Any tips/advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  I would prefer suggestions that aren't difficult to acquire.  I'm cool with suggestions of things like Carnaval scents even though they are unimpable.

 

As well as suggestions of things that I might like, I am also open to suggestions of "try this to determine whether you like (a key note that is in many things)."  I know patchouli is one that I will need to figure out.

 

Here are lists.

 

I would wear this any/every day: The paragons of scent.  These perfumes are ones that never get overpowering, too sweet, get a strange funk to them, etc.  At worst, some fade a little faster than I'd like.

 

• Cheshire Cat
• Hell's Belle
• Bastet
• Blood Pearl (I think this is discontinued?)
• Queen of Hearts
• Vasilissa
• Chimera
• Bliss
• Lightning
• The Sea Foams Milk

 

"Similar but inferior": Scents with a similar alternative that I think is better.

 

• Drink Me < Perversion
• Obatala < Sea Foams Milk
• Kali < Bastet
• Black Lotus < Bastet
• Titania < Kitsune-tsuki
• Dragon's Bone < Blood Pearl
• Eat Me < Chimera
• Velvet: so inferior to Bliss that it feels unfair to even compare them

 

Special occasions only/minor problems: These are nice to wear sometimes, but not every day.  Some of these are too strong/sweet to wear for a long time, or have one stage in which they get a strange/unpleasant funk.

 

• Persephone (burnt hair smell when wet on skin; nice otherwise)
• Titania (too sweet)
• Kitsune-tsuki (less sweet than Titania but still too sweet to tolerate all day)
• Croquet (fades too quickly)
• Soothing System (could use a floral or something to cut through the wine)
• Perversion (too sweet)
• Kumiho (fades quickly, would like more ginger)
• Eat Me (borderline too sweet, I have to be in the right mood)
• Severin (fades too quickly, discontinued)
• Nocnitsa (moss brings it down a bit, discontinued)
• Tweedledee (fades too quickly)

 

Not bad but not great either:  meh

 

• Brimstone (I would not wear this on its own but it's not unpleasant)
• Kali (Like black lotus and Bastet, but not as good)

 

Major problems: I cannot with these

 

• Dragon's Milk (TOO SWEET)
• Dragon's Bone (morphs into something sharp and unpleasant)
• How Doth the Little Crocodile (oakmoss ruins everything)
• Maenad (TOO SWEET, might try layering with brimstone?)
• Plunder (just generally extremely unpleasant)
• Jack (generally unpleasant)
• Grave-Pig (moss nightmare, too masculine)
• Apothecary (moss nightmare, too masculine)
• Velvet (chocolate pencil shavings)
• Zephyr (vanilla pencil shavings)
• Dana O'Shee (baby oil and cardboard)
• Les Fleurs du Mal (makes my allergies go nuts)
• Nyx (Too Much Jasmine)
• Arcana (I don't like rosemary that much)
• Kabuki (strikes me as masculine, reminds me of a bad date I went on)
• Psionicist (100% men's shaving cream)
• Obatala (too sweet)
• Sjöfn (reminds me of a bathroom spray my dad used to use)

 

Based on the above information, I believe that my NOPE notes thus far are oakmoss, honey, frankincense, sandalwood, and anise.  My YEAH notes are, uh...  musks and amber maybe?  I like lotus but I think I have enough lotus scents.

[lookingglass]

I'd recommend O, Defututa, Fae, and Inez.

[crisz]

Based on your love of Cheshire Cat, maybe these more citrus-leaning scents might be worth imping:

• Aelopile Glowing amber and citrus, labdanum, verbena, cedar, and oud
• Night-Gaunt Their scent of their slick, rubbery hides is bittersweet, ticklish, and skin-creeping: something akin to yuzu, white grapefruit, and kumquat mixed with the snow-dusted flowers of Mount Ngranek
• Baobhan Sith Grapefruit, white tea, apple blossom and ginger (this one was soooo grapefruit-forward for me, but if you enjoy the grapefruit from Cheshire Cat, perhaps it's worth a try!)

[niffler]

Aglea (amber, musk, peach) and Brisingamen (amber, carnation) come to mind from the general catalog.... possibly Xanthe the Weeping Clown (guava, orange, white pepper) or Coral Snake (Snake Oil, blood orange, lemon peel, plumeria) from the Carnaval Diabolique? 

[Laughing Seagull]

Will def. be picking some of these up while I order an industrial-sized barrel of Cheshire Cat later - I'm particularly interested in Aglea, I just hope it doesn't end up being too sweet.  Night-Gaunt had been on my radar for a while but most of the rest of these suggestions I hadn't thought about!

 

I think I'll try Snake Oil on its own first before I spring for a Snake Pit bottle.  It'll probably be totally fine, but you never know.

 

Since I've had so many scents turn overly sweet when I put them on I'm reluctant to trust O, but I may try La Petite Mort and/or Sed non Satiata, which I've heard are similar but more complex.

 

Feel free to keep the suggestions flowing!

[VetchVesper]

@Laughing Seagull If you are trying to narrow down notes that you like, you might focus on fragrances with small lists of notes. For patchouli, I'd recommend The Coiled Serpent. It's got a strong, classic patchouli that will let you know if you really dig the note. Even if it's not your thing, I wouldn't toss patch out the window completly. You might like it when it's sweeter and in small doses. Snake Oil has a bit in there. Anne Bonny features a strong red patchouli note, which smells a bit different, so you might try that as well. I'd recommend The Lion as a good example of amber, as well as Haunted, which features a prominant black musk.  Light of Men's Lives has prominant beeswax. 

 

Just based off your likes, I'd suggest Eden (though it does have sandalwood), Y'ha-nthlei, Kumari-Kandem, Brisigamen, Shub-Niggurath (dry ginger), White Rabbit (sharp ginger), Baobhan Sith , Black Pheonix & Hecate (I think both have almond and myrrh), Tavern of Hell, Goblin (if you decide you like patch), maybe Fighter or Paladin to see if you like leather? Centzon Totochtin (chocolate, wine, AND 400 rabbits) Vial of Holy Water (based of you liking Lightning and possibly lavander)

 

ETA - It seems crazy to me that Kabuki smelled masculine to you. 😝  It's strait up sticky, red candy on me. It could be you are just not a licorice fan, but it might also be that red musk doesn't play well with you. You might check out a few more red musk blends and see how they take. 

 

Keep in mind, a lot of folks sell discounted GC imps on the sales page. Happy sniffing!

Edited October 25, 2020 by VetchVesper

[Laughing Seagull]

Thank you for your response!  I've got a bit of Snake Oil and Haunted on the way.  I chose Imp as a "Patchouli Test Run" scent, but will put Coiled Serpent on my list for later if I either really like the patch or still feel uncertain about it.  It's hard to say what I'll think about BPAL patch - I used to use Kiss My Face patchouli liquid rock deodorant, which I adored, yet Yankee patchouli candles make me feel like I'm dying.

 

(The full list of stuff I currently have on the way is Snake Oil, Sed non Satiata, Night Gaunt, Haunted, High-Strung Daisies, Imp, Hunger, Xiuhtecuhtli, Great Sword of War, Athens, Thanatopsis, and Envy, and of course the Weenie decants I signed up for + a bottle of La Calavera Catarina)

 

I'm going to go for Fighter over Paladin because frankincense seems to lend a horrible cologne-y quality to everything when I wear it.  Likewise though it doesn't contain frankincense, I'm reluctant to go for Aelopile because I've seen it called "cologne-y."

 

ETA: I was also surprised that I found Kabuki masculine, to be honest.  I used to wear an anise perfume all the time in college, but after I wore it on a horrible date once I now can't wear it without thinking about that bad date. x_x

Edited October 26, 2020 by Laughing Seagull

[Supertrooper Omni]

Mmm there's

enbalming fluid - white musk, green tea, aloe and lemon.

 

Whitechapel - White musk, lime, lilac and citron (I expected this to be 7411 esque but it was not at all lame men's cologne, just very crisp)

 

and Manhattan - sheer amber, black leather, white mint, lemon peel, white tea, grapefruit, kush, teakwood and orchid.

 

Aizen-myoo: Yuzu, kaki, and mikan with cherry blossom and black tea.

 

in the category of juicy scents that are not musty, nor sweet nor insanely floral. I am also kind of enamored with Cheshire cat. I like aelopile as well, Aizen-myoo is soft, and more femme to me and pretty different from aelopile but they have that non+pledge smelling citrus.

 

I also am pretty into Against Mischief and Idleness, which is a chamomile scent, and chamomile is also pretty strong in Cheshire cat and not overly floral or stank. I also like vassilissa, and find little wooden doll delightful in same regard, however if you hate woods/frankincense some of these might be deal breakers.

 

These are all GC catalog scents, so you can probably pick up imps for a buck on the forums of you look around.

 

Anteros is pretty rad if you end up liking the snake oil and sed non saetiata, patch blend woody darker scents (my faves)!!

Edited October 30, 2020 by Supertrooper Omni

[VetchVesper]

@Laughing Seagull  That sounds like a good smattering of different stuff to enjoy.    Fighter is very much musk and a prominent middle of the road leather.  Paladin's leather note is more subtle, as is Manhattan's. Iago is STRONG, shiny black leather.  Too masculine for my tastes, but on some people it's not as harsh.  Keep in mind, with a lot of BPAL's notes, including musk, leather, patchouli, and tea, there are different types.  The descriptors often do matter, and you may like brown leather but not black leather.  Or you may find you like white patchouli, but not red patchouli.  Just things to keep in mind if you didn't know it already.   

[Laughing Seagull]

Whitechapel concerns me because either lilac or wisteria made my allergies go nutz when I tried Les Fleurs, but otherwise it sounds perfect - I loved the lime in Croquet.  Vasilissa is the ONE sandalwood-containing scent that didn't go all pencil-shavings on me, and I love her for that.

 

Aizen-myoo and Embalming Fluid sound 

 

In addition to all the stuff I listed above, I've also got Fae, Hecate, The Lights of Men's Lives, The Tavern of Hell, Nyarlahotep, Vice, and The Sea Foams Blood on the way from a forum sale.  I was reluctant on Fae since I hate oakmoss, but the price was right.

 

23 minutes ago, VetchVesper said:

The descriptors often do matter, and you may like brown leather but not black leather.  Or you may find you like white patchouli, but not red patchouli.

 

Ahh, so complicated - but I guess the diversity of things available is part of the fun, after all.

[Laughing Seagull]

I've tried a bunch of new scents.  Here are the results from my first (and in some cases first and second) test of each - I'll do more tests later, but first impressions are very important.

 

Cheshire Cat remains the undefeated champ with Bliss still tagging along in second.

 

New Loves: Thanatopsis, Belle Epoque, Envy

New Likes: Shub-Niggurath, Lurid, The Sea Foams Blood, Haunted, Xiuhtecuhtli, Hecate

New Mehs: Fae, Vice, Nyarlahotep

New Mild Dislikes: Night-Gaunt, Scherezade, Snake Oil, Sed non Satiata, The Lights of Men's Lives, Hunger, Imp, The Great Sword of War,  La Calavera Catarina (I hope Catarina and Snake Oil improve w/ age)

New Absolute Disasters: Athens, Thieves' Rosin, Burial, High-Strung Daisies, Le Lethe, Tavern of Hell

 

What went right: Dark/Black Musk continue to be winners.  Envy is fresh and bright without being sharp or cologne-y.  Dragon's Blood in Sea Foams is amazeballs for a couple of hours but eventually gets overly powdery-sweet (may try w/ locket once I get one?  I'm hoping the Cheshire Cat locket returns for obvious reasons).  Belle Epoque was a frimp from Mad Maudlin and ended up being an absolute home run despite containing sandalwood - it's juicy and refreshing and all of the notes behave themselves consistently.  Shub is wonderful but it goes into the "I would not want to wear this every day because my nose would get tired" category.  Thanatopsis is like drinking a Tom Collins with an angel in a dim, quiet, cozy bar - refreshing, gentle, kind, maybe a little contemplative. Xiuhtecuhtli would've made the "love" list if I didn't like Belle better as an orange scent.

 

(I seem to have a thing for describing scents I like as "refreshing."  Maybe I should search the review board for the term "refreshing," lol.)

 

What went wrong: Honey/Beeswax are sharp and unpleasant, pink peppercorn turns my skin into barbecue, something made Night-Gaunt soapy/sneezy, hostile whiskey takeover in Tavern of Hell.  Lovely peach in Imp got taken over by a dirt smell that feels unpleasant in my nose.  Scherezade confirms that I probably don't like red musk.  Snake Oil turned into plastic (I have heard aging helps this).  Calavera Catarina was cologne and chrysanthemum leaf despite my confidence that I would love her (a thought based on expecting something more flowery) - I will age the bottle and see if that helps.

 

Le Lethe, Thieves' Rosin, and Burial get special honors for making me feel physically ill.

 

I'll be waiting a while before I make any new lab orders since I bought a lot in October, but I'm always planning my next order and ofc I'll be stalking the forum sales.

 

Likely next purchases: Somnus, Paris, Aglaea, Baobhan Sith, Aizen-myoo, Y'ha-nthlei/R’Lyeh, Embalming Fluid, Centzon Totochtin, Brisingamen, Poisoned Apple, Black Phoenix, mmmmmaybe Anathema and Aelopile?

 

I'd like to try something with heliotrope since I liked that note in Fae (I recognize the note because I always have heliotrope in my summer garden - the oil is wonderfully true to the real thing!  I still hate oakmoss though).  Juliet?  I don't know how heliotrope-y it is.  I'm also interested in finding an agreeable wine scent (for those Dionysian Mysteries kinda days) and trying more opium/poppy/generally soporific scents.

 

As always, ideas are appreciated.

[VetchVesper]

@Laughing Seagull Seems like you're narrowing down what you like, and you've got some good choices for future orders!  Sorry red musk is a no go and Tavern of Hell was disaster.   I will say, Tavern of Hell was kinda the wild card I threw in there.  I thought you might dig the lavender and orange blossom, and it's got kind of an unusual list of notes.  If you don't mind holding on to things, you might test again in a year or so.  It's got so much going on, I think it needs time to settle.  With age, mine went from smelling like vomit, to a dark, verging on masculine gardenia.  But then, maybe you don't like tobacco?  

Yay for Envy!    It's one of my favorite lavenders too, but I think it's not perfumey enough for a lot of folks. 

 

Anywho, it struck me you might enjoy the champagne note, since you like citrus and the bite of ginger.  Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat smells like sparkly lemon lime candy.  Bon Vivant is a bit drier and less sweet.  More bitey, but also fizzy.

 

Seems like you definitely like tangerine, so check out Azathoth if you think you might like cedar. 

 

I think you might really like Juliet, based on you liking the Queen of Hearts, but Tamora was heavier on the heliotrope, at least, to my nose.

 

You might also check out juniper, based on you loving Thanatopsis.  I bet you would like Cooling Breeze from last years Lupers, and you might like Transeo.  Oberon is a nice, spritely juniper with fruity overtones.  Nice for Christmas.  You might also like Jersey Devil.   I actually don't have tons of luck with juniper, but I love me some fizzy gin!  The note shows up every once in a while and might also be worth watching for.  

P.S.  That Red Mandarin, French Lavender, and Juniper Menage a Trois might be right up your alley. 

PPS  Actually, just noticed you were looking for a wine note, so I'm going to shamelessly flaunt my wares.  I have a partial of Transeo, if you're interested.  I've been trying to find it a loving home for a while.  It was left overs from a decant circle I ran, and very much not my bag, but it might be yours.    No worries if you aren't interested.  💗 

Edited November 5, 2020 by VetchVesper

[hhelix]

I would also recommend Berzerker for a juniper note and it doesn’t seem to have any of your death notes (that I could tell). I love it and need to get a bottle of it for the name alone. For the wine/Dionysian vibe, I recommend Harvest Moon 2020. It’s divine. For a less complex, GC wine, I suggest Queen Alice, which is a lovely autumnal apple wine carnation scent. It’s on the sweet side though. Eclipse is a beautiful, soft, powdery heliotrope, but I can’t remember if you can do sandalwood. Also do set an imp that didn’t work aside for awhile and come back another time. In my experience, hormones and weather can drastically change my perception of a scent for good or ill. 

[Laughing Seagull]

1 hour ago, VetchVesper said:

PPS  Actually, just noticed you were looking for a wine note, so I'm going to shamelessly flaunt my wares.  I have a partial of Transeo, if you're interested.  I've been trying to find it a loving home for a while.  It was left overs from a decant circle I ran, and very much not my bag, but it might be yours.    No worries if you aren't interested.  💗 

 

I do plan on keeping the imp of Tavern of Hell around to see if the whiskey calms down.  I was really excited about the other notes.  From testing Sword of War and Perversion, I have noticed that tobacco also likes to shove every other note out of the way at times.  It's not necessarily a BAD smell, but I do wish it would play nice with others.

 

Interesting that you'd bring up Transeo.  I love the concept of it!  The word "cologne" always scares me when it's in descriptions since it makes me expect that "men's shaving cream/aftershave" twang.  Cumin powder smells like me when I've been too depressed to shower for like a week, but maybe in oil form it will be different.

 

I'll think about it and if I decide to go for it I can bribe you to throw it in with my decant circle stuffs perhaps.

 

1 hour ago, hhelix said:

I would also recommend Berzerker for a juniper note and it doesn’t seem to have any of your death notes (that I could tell). I love it and need to get a bottle of it for the name alone.

 

Sandalwood seems to be 50/50 - it's behaved itself in Belle Epoque and Vasilissa, but it totally effed Velvet and Zephyr.  I'll look up the Harvest Moon - I got a sticker of the illustration for it and I am quite fond of that, at least!

 

Berzerker sounds fun.  I seem to take well to "blood" notes.

[hhelix]

@Laughing Seagull I love the Lab’s blood note! And I think I meant frankincense, not sandalwood, re: eclipse. 

[Laughing Seagull]

11 minutes ago, hhelix said:

@Laughing Seagull I love the Lab’s blood note! And I think I meant frankincense, not sandalwood, re: eclipse. 

Ahh, frankincense is possibly another story!  I'm not 100% certain if it's what I disliked about those blends, but I absolutely abhor Arcana and Psionicist and find them similarly "men's shaving cream-y."

[VetchVesper]

@Laughing Seagull Actually, good point. I'd be happy to frimp you a bit of Transeo with your decants. See how you like it. 

[Laughing Seagull]

2 hours ago, VetchVesper said:

@Laughing Seagull Actually, good point. I'd be happy to frimp you a bit of Transeo with your decants. See how you like it. 

 

That's such a kind offer!  😭  If you do that, I'll gladly buy the rest of the bottle off of you if I end up liking it.

 

I really hope it works out for me - in part because of course I love when stuff works out, in part because I'd feel crappy about making you go through the effort for nothing, and in part, of course, because chill urban vampires are hot.

[VetchVesper]

1 hour ago, Laughing Seagull said:

 

That's such a kind offer!  😭  If you do that, I'll gladly buy the rest of the bottle off of you if I end up liking it.

 

I really hope it works out for me - in part because of course I love when stuff works out, in part because I'd feel crappy about making you go through the effort for nothing, and in part, of course, because chill urban vampires are hot.

No worries!  I'll just be happy to share it with someone. It's been lonely and languishing on my sales page for a while, and the VILF's don't get enough love

[Laughing Seagull]

Another round of imps, another round of lists.  Cheshire Cat remains on top.

 

Great: Blood Rose

Good: Bon Vivant, Brisingamen

Meh: Aelopile, Juliet, Paris, Fighter, Carnal, Tlazolteotl, Event Horizon

????:  Centzon Totochtin, The Jersey Devil

Disaster: Oberon, Darkness, The Forest Reverie

 

Blood Rose is the winner of this round for being like an improved version of Persephone.  I have absolutely no complaints about this one.  I like it in all phases, nothing funky happens, it's well balanced.

 

Brisingamen and Bon Vivant are both lovely scents, but I would not want to wear them every day which is my criteria for the "great" category.  The wet phase of Brisingamen doesn't really do it for me but the dry phase is very enjoyable.

 

Aelopile, Le Lethe, and Event Horizon helped me figure out that I hate labdanum.  Paris is practically SN lotus.  Carnal's fine but I prefer Belle Epoque.  Tlazolteotl is interesting and worth trying, but it's not something I can see myself wearing often.  Fighter reminds me of the Demeter "Riding Crop" scent that I wore like 10 years ago.  It's not really my style anymore, but I probably will use the imp.  Juliet is far too meek and has something candy-like (I think the sweet pea but I'm not 100% sure) that I dislike.

 

Centzon and Jersey Devil are going to need re-tests.  Jersey Devil smelled SO GOOD while it was wet that I was ready to spring for a bottle immediately, but the drydown was horrible.  It became uncomfortably, cloyingly sweet.  I will try it again on a piece of fabric.  Centzon was...  There was a foreground of a really great choco-wine scent, but there was something that reminded me of vomit in the background?

 

Oberon smelled exactly like Dove Nutrium Moisture Body Wash for several hours.  Darkness was dominated by sneezy narcissus and by the time anything else emerged I was tired of it.  The Forest Reverie somehow smelled like pee for several minutes before transitioning to an okay-but-not-great woodsy scent.

 

New discoveries:  I hate labdanum.  Its only redeeming quality is that it seems to "burn off" relatively quickly.  Narcissus needs to stop.  Pine = good.

 

And from here...  

Might give something else pine-y a shot in addition to all the other stuff I intend to try but haven't gotten around to yet.  I also want to try Mad Hatter because someone said it smells like butter mints.