Perfume newbie looking for some help

[lunabee34]

Several people in my DW circle are really into perfume, and I've been reading and enjoying their posts for a while now. One of them mentioned this community had started, and I figured this was a good place to ask some questions.

I have been to the BPAL website, and I have to admit that I find the descriptions of the perfumes kinda intimidating and confusing. I'm not sure where to start.

I also have the added issue that my husband reacts poorly to some scents. He can't abide anything heavily floral which has limited my perfume choices over the years.

I was wondering if I could get some BPAL recommendations from those of you who are more familiar with the perfumes there based on my scent likes/dislikes that I've listed below the cut. :)



Likes

All citrus
Herbal scents like rosemary, basil, parsley, clary sage
Grass
Green plants
Lavender
Fresh Cannibas Santal (Top Notes: bergamot, Brazilian orange, black plum; Middle Notes: patchouli, cannabis accord, rose: Bottom Notes: chocolate, vetiver, vanilla musk)
Church incense

Beyond that, I'm not really sure what I like. :)

No-Gos

Anything overly sweet
Anything floral, particularly tea rose, gardenia and honeysuckle


I would appreciate any recommendations y'all can give me.

Comments

[white_aster]

You're welcome! :)

Nnnngh, favorite. It depends on the day, but my faves are probably Anubis, Golden Priapus (pine and vanilla!), and a Halloween Limited Edition called Samhain that...smells like fall in the sweet dried leaf sense. :)

[lunabee34]

Those sound fabulous, especially Samhain. We had a tree in the yard of my childhood home and its shed leaves smelled so divine in the fall. I'd crush them up my hands and make "potpourri."

[umadoshi]

Enthusiastic seconding of Samhain. *_* So, so good, and while it is a limited edition, it's one that reappears frequently, if not every year. (And possibly every year--I can't remember. I have at least two iterations of it.)

[white_aster]

Yussss. The full description is damp woods, fir needle, and black patchouli with the gentlest touches of warm pumpkin, clove, nutmeg, allspice, sweet red apple and mullein, but to be honest, I can't hardly pick out any of those things. It's just that well-blended.

Devil's Night is another Halloweenie fave (the scent of autumn night, fires in the distance, with a touch of boozy swoon, playful sugar and thuggish musk), though it is more...aggressive? than Samhain. :)

[lunabee34]

Oh my. Do we eat or wear these things? LOL

I can tell this has the potential of becoming an obsession. :)

[umadoshi]

*g* There's a reason people refer to BPAL as a fandom!

[white_aster]

I KNOW, RIGHT? :D

One thing that's helpful to remember is that the 1ml samples, I've found, last a LONG time. Like, I don't know who's getting only half a dozen uses out of them. I've had imps/samples for years, and even the ones I've used 20 times have only started to show their wear. A very SMALL amount is needed to get a good smell. So, if you're not sure of something and you CAN get it as a sample, I'd say go with that. :)

Also, there are plenty of outlets to buy samples and partial bottles off other enthusiasts. The BPAL forums/BPAL.org is one place, ebay is another, and LJ has an evil_enablers community where I tend to get my BPAL-and-other-etailers fix on. Sometimes you can find a real deal if someone has lots of things you want to try, and they're trying to destash. :)

[lunabee34]

Thanks for confirming my suspicions. I reined myself in when ordering because I assumed the imps would probably last me awhile. :)