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

[lunabee34]

Me either! In fact, I had originally included a long tangent in this post about the kind of wine drinker I am. I love wine. I drink a lot of wine. I know what I like. I can differentiate quality levels. But when I read labels and realize I'm supposed to be tasting earth or berries or gravel or whatever LOL I'm all, "Mkay, whatever you say." I'm pretty much stuck at the "I like that! Yummy!" or "Ewwwww. No!" level. And I worry that my nose is not discerning enough to truly appreciate the complexity of these scents.

But they seem so cool!!!!!!! LOL

Thanks for the recs. I am clearly going to spend a lot of money.

[Also, this is not the place, but I am soonishly to be making a post about finishing Feed. *sobs and sniffles and weeps* So freaking good]

[umadoshi]

I've tried a few times to break away and stop buying new imps, because I don't wear them most of the time! But then new updates come out and I get sucked in. I think it's been a few years now since I bought anything other than from the Halloween and Yule updates, but oh my gosh, those two are so amazing every year.

I'm a complete night owl, and in 2008 (a friend had a baby the week this happened, which is why I remember the year so clearly *g*) I bolted awake at something like 5 AM, after only a few hours of sleep, and went immediately to my computer to see if the Yule update was live. That's how much I've loved those scents. *^^*

On the odd chance you haven't noticed this--have you seen how on the BPAL site you can (unless this has changed) order a set of imps from the general catalogue rather than full bottles?

And if your goal is to try a lot of things, I'd highly recommend finding a decant circle for limited editions. Easily 90% of my collection is from decant circles, which is largely why mine are almost all LEs. (I'd direct you to the one I usually went through, but the decanter has stepped back from doing it--it's a ton of work, and she decanted for a LOT of people.) And most of the time, unless the mail gets really backed up, decanters are able to get your sample imps to you in time for you to try them and then order full bottles of your favorites from the Lab before the update comes down.

[When you make that post, I will come and weep with you. Oh, book of my heart...!]

[lunabee34]

I did see the imp sets!

I think I want to try some standalones and a sense for what the site means when it uses scent descriptors I'm not familiar with and then I think I'll be able to choose a set that I really like.

Thanks for the telling me about the decant circles too. I probably wouldn't have figured that out on my own.

[umadoshi]

It's been quite a while since I went looking for a new decanter (although if you also have an LJ account, there are a couple of people I've gone through there who may still be active?), but IIRC they'll usually link to a post where people comment and report on their experiences, or if you go through the BPAL forums (which are a dangerously addictive wealth of information) there should be feedback posts there too.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how this all works out for you! *^^*