BPAL (Embalming Fluid) and musing on smells

[oyceter]

Not sure if my nose is up to snuff...

Embalming Fluid, which I stole from yhlee. Many thanks! It's gotten rather addictive, and I really love the smell, and I find I've been wearing it every day. Need to get myself a larger bottle.

Anyhow.

Site: A light, pure scent: white musk, green tea, aloe and lemon.

Bottle: Lemon! Sharp and citrusy, it smells just like lemon! I don't think it smells like that nasty artificial lemon cleaner smell, but I might just be used to it.

Wet: More lemon! I really like the sharpness of this. For some reason, even though I like food smells and whatnot, I don't like them on my skin or following me around everywhere. I like perfumes that don't feel cloying or too thick, and I love the way the lemon cuts through other smells.

Drydown: The lemon fades away a bit, so it's not quite so citrusy (alas), but something that smells slightly cooler and more water-like comes to the fore. I think that's the green tea or the aloe. I have no idea what white musk smells like, but I guess it's what makes this smell a wee bit thicker when it dries, if that makes sense.

Also, I just like the fact that I'm wearing something called Embalming Fluid.

This is really interesting! I don't pay attention to this kind of thing at all, so it's very strange trying to come up with words that describe scent and how even strong lemon smells "thin" to me while the maybe-musk smells "thick." The only problem with this scent is that it fades in about two hours. I don't know if that is a long life span or not for a scent, but I like it a lot and wish it would last all day so I wouldn't have to reapply.

So. From my admittedly very small experience with perfumes and scents, I dislike anything too musky or thick or sweet (vanilla is right out). Chanel no. 5 is nice on other people but I don't want to smell it on me 24/7. I don't like things that feel like they're going to hang around in my nose for a long time, if that makes sense. I think I am not so good with florals, though I can't distinguish most of them. From smelling candles and stuff, I know I dislike the smell of lavender and lilac, jasmine is ok when it's light (like the tea), I love the smell of fresh roses but possibly not rose perfume. I'm not sure if florals smell right on me as well -- they don't smell me-ish or something. I thought I would like fruity smells, but Akuma's raspberry is too sweet and thick on me. I really like Gap's "Pink" perfume, which smells like grapefruit, so I'm guessing that I like citrus smells. Maybe it's that I like smelling food, but I don't like smelling like food, ergo, ixnay on most fruits and foody sweet smells (vanilla is my nemesis outside of the kitchen). For some reason, citrus doesn't make me feel like I smell like food. I smell like food peel, yes, but not food. Plus, the thought of eating lemon peels or grapefruit peels isn't very appealing.

So I think the general consensus for me is that I like clean smells that aren't too cloying and are fairly light. I don't like it when they smell too "cool" because it makes me feel a little nauseous, so maybe a touch of musk, like Embalming Fluid? It's very interesting trying to figure this out! I mean, I don't think about this at all. I think I would like sort of green, nature-y smells, or light clean florals. Although my definition may be different from most people's! I like the light honey smell of some roses, not overpowering. I don't like floral scents that remind me of pollen. I think I really like spicy/soapy smells that just fade into my skin and leave a little residue of spiciness. It's like... scents that make you feel hungry instead of full. Er. Or I guess scents that don't linger and only leave little wisps of scent, instead of overstaying their welcome and getting crumbs all over the place. I want scents that are nice houseguests that always leave before you get sick of them and leave you remembering them fondly.

Uh, yeah...

I also realize that this list will probably make no sense to those of you who are not me (I'm pretty sure that's all of you, although reading Angel Sanctuary has led me not to discount the possibility of an evil twin, twins, computer copies or reincarnations of myself). Apologies... it's really hard for me to find words to adequately describe how I feel about scents, particularly because I don't think about it often.

It's so strange thinking about this! I usually don't think of myself in terms of scent, so it's fun trying to figure out what smells like me. My hair smells like Pantene Pro-V or Dove (no idea what those smell like, in terms of flowers or anything), my skin smells like a combination of Caress bar soap and Nivea lotion. I love the smell of Caress. Nivea is a little too milky thick smelling for me, but it moistrurizes like mad, so I keep it. And now my wrists smell of Embalming Fluid! Where does one apply essential oils? Wrists? Neck? I miss smelling like Caress, because it had this spicy afterscent.

Anyhow, I am eagerly awaiting my first order of imps. After that, maybe I will trade around with people? I know yhlee would like to swap, and I just saw the_red_shoes do a BPAL post...

Perfume recs are also very welcome, though I think I tend to shy away from perfumes because I hate the way the alcohol base tinges the scent. Actually, any recs in general would be good because I have no idea what smells like what. Then again, the way I describe things, probably no one has a good notion of what I want to smell like! ;)

Comments

[rilina.livejournal.com]

Hmm, maybe this is just me, but I haven't found that my preferences in candles has anything to do with my preferences in perfume. I don't like vanilla candles very much (too cloying), but the perfume that I wear, Burberrys for Women (http://www.perfumania.com/Products.aspx?CatId=&CatName=&Cat1Id=874), has vanilla in its base.

I find the whole BPAL phenomenon pretty fascinating, but since I've very recently found a perfume that I love, I don't think I'm going to try them out any time soon. :)

[oyceter]

I think my candle preference is similar to my perfume preference -- I don't like the warm musky candles, or the food smelling ones, with the exception of citrus, and usually I seem to be most drawn to the ones that smell like ocean or tea or something else very neutral.

Sorry, I am really fascinated with this right now.

What's your perfume?

[rilina.livejournal.com]

According to a website--since I honestly couldn't tell--it's top notes are peach, apricot and marigold; the middle notes are black currant, sandalwood, and cedar; and the base is jasmine, vanilla, and musk. I basically only smell the sandalwood and cedar when it's wet; that part goes away very quickly. When it dries down, I mostly smell the vanilla, with the sweetness cut by the musk and jasmine a bit. I think. Basically, it's mildly sweet (and the smell lasts most of the day on me even though I don't put much on).

As for as candles, I tend to like citrusy things (as long as they aren't too strong) or tea. But those never smell right on me.

[oyceter]

Mmm, sounds good but maybe not for me? It's hard to tell. I think I'm going to storm Sephora this weekend and have a lot of fun playing with samples.

[rilina.livejournal.com]

Have fun! I did that a lot when I was trying to settle on a perfume. In the end, I kept getting overwhelmed so I ended up spraying each wrist with a different possibility and then running away before I got a headache. (It can be a bit overwhelming!)

[oracne.livejournal.com]

That "thick" thing--I know what you mean.

"Thick" scents, to me, have layers. Like my Chanel #5.

I used to wear flowery scents in high school, and I still like them, but tend to wear only a few things now--Chanel #5, Crabtree & Evelyn's sandalwood (in the men's stuff), and a lavender-lime thing from Aveda. Mostly, I go for scented soaps and shampoo.

[oyceter]

Hrm, yeah, I guess so? I can't quite tell. I seem to associate "thick" with... heavier scents? So if there are lots of layers of light florals, it doesn't seem to bother me as much as vanilla, frex.

I usually like soaps and shampoo way better too. Something about the alcohol base in perfume really annoys my nose and it tends to overwhelm the scent if it's a light one.

[livinglaurel.livejournal.com]

I'd love to be on yr swap list! Count me in.

[oyceter]

Sure thing!

[avrelia.livejournal.com]

I feel like I missed an introduction: what is BPAL?

I mostly distinguish smell "I like" and "I don't like" - or light and heavy, where I dislike heavy and sweet scents.

One of my favourites is Champs-Elysees from Guerlain, and I have no idea what it consists of. I liked Burbberry Weekend, but I got tired and don't want another bottle.

[oyceter]

BPAL is the Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab -- they make perfume oil blends. It's pretty confusing going through their site if you're looking for something specific, but it's really fun just rambling through and reading descriptions.

Mostly I seem to like the very light and clean scents as well.

[gwyneira.livejournal.com]

I'm waiting for my first order of imps, too, and would love to do some swapping at some point. I tend to prefer florals, though, so our tastes may not coincide. :)

I have a rose that smells like lemons - it's one of my favorites.

[oyceter]

Yay, more BPAL people! My first imp order is very random, just because I wanted to try scents in all ranges.

Oh... that rose sounds lovely! I've got four minis on my balcony, and while they're blooming beautifully right now, they're mostly scentless =(.

smells

[(Anonymous)]

i like the fruitier smells. yes, it's true, i would rather smell like an orange than like a flower. and definitely the lighter, NON-flowery smells. flowery or heavy smells make me want to throw up. thus, i don't like any of the expensive name-brands (i.e., chanel anything). i've been wearing tommy girl for...7 years (?) now, but that's mainly because i have a huge bottle of it that i have yet to use up. i also tried jlo's glow, which i liked a lot because it was a very light scent (ore maybe it was the pink-ness i fell for, haha!). i used to like the vanilla-y smells until ber actually used hers all the time and made it so that every time i smelled it, i wanted to BITE her, yes, bad, i know. it's just that she smelled like vanilla ice cream!

Re: smells

[oyceter]

Hee, I can't stand the vanilla smells at all! They don't even make me hungry; they just make me want to gag because they're so overpowering. Ditto with the baby powder scents.

I think I just don't like most perfumes because of the base, but I tend to like scented lotions much better.