Thursday, April 14, 2016

Finding a replacement scent

Perfume is such a personal thing, and I think that finding the perfect scent can be one of the more difficult things in the beauty world. Part of that is because perfumes change over time as they wear and interact with your body chemistry, and part of it is how the scents in the perfume interact with your body chemistry.


I had a summer scent that I adored but it went off recently and they company no longer makes it. It was The Body Shop's perfume oil in Lemon Tea, which I think might have been a one off scent and it was all the way back when they were doing perfume oils. But I loved it, it was light and lemony, sweet with a little acid to tame the sweet, and a touch of green to round it all out. When summer came around it was my 'I don't want to think scent'. But time (and probably the sun) are not kind to perfumes (even in oil form) and this one is old and the scent has faded and it not longer smells of anything.


Which leaves me with a gap in my perfume collection.


I mean, I have tons of winter perfumes. Most of them with some sort of vanilla base, and I have them in all forms; sprays, roll-ons, oils, etc. But when it comes to summer my collection is significantly smaller. I tend to prefer lighter scents in summer and prefer them to have a citrus base. I've got a couple, but while they're nice they're not quite the same.


So I decided to try and dip my toes into the Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab waters. Those are some intimidating waters, and I've mostly stayed away because I've always been just a little unsure of where to start. I do have one vial of Edith Cushing from the Crimson Peak limited edition set because I read a review that gave it pretty high remarks, and mentioned it was vanilla based so I bought it on a whim. It's a good scent and it has strong staying power, so armed with that I went back to the webpage to look for a replacement sent for my beloved Lemon Tea.


Fortunately for me PBAL has this awesome directory where you can click on a scent note and it will list all of the oils that use that note. Which makes dipping into their oils so much less intimidating.  I clicked on Lemon and ordered an imp, which is their small sample size, of every scent available plus the Citrus Collection that was also listed in that selection. So, now I am going through the process of trying on the scents to see if one can replace Lemon Tea, if not completely then at least occupy that spot in my collection.


Embalming Fluid - white musk, green tea, aloe and lemon - Right off the bat, this is an exact dupe. I almost went straight to the BPAL website to order a full size after my first application. I'm glad I waited though, because after the dry down, the bitterness of the aloe comes to the forefront. While it's still a very clean scent and I can smell the lemon and the greenness I desire, I don't love the aloe. It's a possibility though.


Delirium - apple, rose, and lemon - Mostly from this I get apples. But not like an apple from a fruit stand, apple from a bottle. I don't get the rose or lemon at all, and the apple scent just smells fake to me. I don't like this one at all. I may give it a second go just to be sure, but I had to hold my hand away from my face after application because the scent just did not appeal.


Horn of Plenty-???? something something prosperity and nothing about notes. (I do not like that. I get that it's in keeping with their brand, but UGH what if a particular note is annoying, or I'm allergic to it?)- This one is an imp they threw in as a bonus (which is awesome), because nothing about it is citrusy or lemony. It's not a bad scent, but I don't think I love it. There are definitely vanilla notes in it, which is one reason why I like it. I also get a hint of chocolate, which I don't generally like in my perfumes. But other then that I have no idea. I think I'll enjoy the imp while I have it, but I won't put this on a wish list.

As an update: I still have a ton of imps that I haven't even sniffed yet but I think I'm going to go ahead and get a full sized bottle of Embalming Fluid. I somehow got a bit of it on my sheets when I first applied it and last night I could smell the sweet, fresh lemon goodness and I wants it. I think it's as close as I'm going to get, and I really do enjoy it.