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

[synecdochic]

Yeah, the years of apothecary work does give me an advantage in identifying notes! I recently ordered a sample pack of various incense resins to burn for sarah so she can learn to spot those notes in perfume. You could do that (let me know if you want instructions), or go to your nearest "store with loads of essential oils" and sniff all the testers... Once you learn to recognize many of the popular resins, they'll really jump out at you in a blend. They really are very distinct, and BPAL uses a lot of resins in various blends.

Anyway, my scratch and sniff tag has my previous rounds of BPAL reviews -- you might find them helpful. I also found that the BPAL review forum can be useful, although more in the realm of "what kind of range of reactions do people have to this scent" and "how true are these notes to what I think of as the 'ideal' version of the ingredients" than anything else, because my skin chemistry is just plain weird and I can't go by descriptions of how a scent wears on other people very often.

And yes, this hobby really is ridiculously fun. It's been coming up on 20 years since the last time I was playing with smelly things regularly and I'm really starting to remember how much I always enjoyed it. The latest BPAL order got here yesterday and I am covered in different patches of stuff that makes me smell good :D

[lunabee34]

That is a really good idea. I'm not sure I have access to a store that sells oils, but I have a few ideas of places to look. :)

I checked out your tag. Thanks for linking me. I'm really enjoying reading everyone's reactions.

Thanks so much for all the help.